Friday, August 23, 2013

Calico Spools Quilt Block and Velvet, Organza, Taffeta, and Silky - Oh My!

Calico Spools Quilt Block

In the Quilters' Book Club, we are reading and discussing Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick. 

"When the twins were born, Taffy intended to carry on with the family custom of naming female children after fabric, in homage to the Tudmore tradition of producing women who were experts with a needle, even though she personally had no talent for sewing.  But her husband, Dutch, objected.

"'Hell, no!' he exclaimed.  'You're not doing it, Taffy.  All the good names are gone.  Your cousin got the last one - though I'm not crazy about Organza.  But it's sure better than Corduroy.  Or Hopsack.  Or Flannel!  That's about all that's left.'

"'I was thinking of naming them after Momma and Aunt Velvet,' Taffy countered.

"'Silky and Velvet Templeton?' Dutch spread his boot-shod feet and crossed his arms over his chest, aping the bronze resolve of Flagadine Tudmore.  'Do that and these will be the last babies you have a chance of getting off me.  I mean it.'"  page 9, Between Heaven and Texas 

If you'd like to make a quilt block to represent the fabric-named Tudmore women, here are some good choices:

Calico Spools Quilt Block

Spools Quilt Block

Spool Quilt Block

Which fabric name is your favorite?  (Or is Jack Benny your favorite?)  Can you think of other interesting fabric names?  Inquiring minds want to know!  By commenting, you are entering your name in a giveaway of a fabulous prize pack containing Wedding Ring, Endless Chain, Lover’s Knot (first three books of the Shenandoah Album Series) and Mountain Away, all by Emilie Richards - courtesy of Harlequin!

Heads Up:  Our September book is The Goodbye Quilt by Susan Wiggs.  You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post here.

18 comments:

  1. I think Calico might be an acceptable name, but I wouldn't use it for one of my children!

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  2. I suppose I could name my dog Gingham, especially if the cat was a Calico...Or if it was very fluffy, maybe Terry or Tweed. As for children, probably not.

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  3. I'm not sure I would call a child of mine after fabric but the more I thought about it I could see it. I love Stonehenge fabrics and Stone for a male name would be awesome. It was fun to google fabric names and some of them I could see used but some are just fun. Here are some that might be modified or used. I knew a Paisley once. Wonder if her mother was a sewer/quilter. How about:

    Harris (for Harris Tweed)
    Donegal (for Donegal Tweed - I know a man named Donegal)
    Camlet - nick name of Cam
    Jacquard - nick name of Jackie
    Kente (for Kente Cloth)
    Loden
    Moquette
    Paisley
    Samite
    Scarlet
    Sequin
    Surah
    Shantung
    Zephyr

    That was fun!

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  4. Dimples, I love the fabric and the name

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  5. A very entertaining blog post! Thank you for making me laugh!

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  6. Crinoline would be fun! Oh my, with google, the possibilities are endless. I'll be using that spool block pattern to teach a paper piece demo next month.

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  7. How about Batiste! We could call her "Tisty". And she would probably disown us as Dios as she got old enough!

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  8. Oops!!! That should've read "as soon" as! Not Dios!!! Sorry bout that!!...

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  9. Cambric or duck or poplin or burlap.....ewwwww! I will stick with plain names, thanks. LOL

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  10. Hahaha, how about Pinwale Corduroy! LOL That kid would surely hate us by middle school age. 8-)

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  11. We have Patches and Paisley, sister--16 and 1 years. Reading through the names, I don't like any.

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  12. Oh my..favorite fabric name??? I don't have one and surely would never name a child after a fabric. LOL!

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  13. Fun to think about! I haven't found one yet that I would want to name a child, however I found several that I could use for pets.

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  14. You've probably found this link but here is a Wikipedia article on fabric names. Many are unfamiliar and very few are names I'd use for children. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fabric_names#Z
    Although Viyella has an interesting ring to it ;-)

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    1. Wonderful list, Mary Ann! Thank you for finding it. I once had a student named Lacey. And wasn't Georgette the name of Ted Baxter's girlfriend on the Mary Tyler Moore Show?

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  15. Let's see...Fleece probably wouldn't leave a good impression... I wouldn't want to pull the WOOL over anyone's eyes....um...OTTOMAN sounds like someone would wipe their feet on you...ahm....MELTON sounds like something ice does.....MERINO-wasn't he a quarterback?....DOTTED SWISS, a cow?...drill is a TULLE, right?...I dunno - I'm VOILED again!

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  16. I would not name a child after any fabrics that I can think of at this time. But trends shift, so maybe one day fabric names may become popular.

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