I scooped up a large bag of selvedges which had been donated to our quilt guild as I plan to make a selvedge quilt one day. I am going to a guild retreat this weekend, and decided I would cut them to the size I want prior to a going. This was a lot of trimming- maybe two hours so far. This gave me a lot of time to think about the selvedges, and notice more than I usually would.
A few random thoughts while trimming…
The first thing I noticed is that there were a LOT of fabrics that were also in MY stash. Was I accidentally working on my own collection of selvedges? No. First thought: someone had good taste. Second thought: are we like lemmings, all heading to quilt shops to buy the same fabric? I hope not!
Look at selvedge #1… I really like that some manufacturers put the year the fabric was printed. This was the only one I found from the 1990s.
Selvedge #2… really? Why was someone saving this tiny scrap?
Selvedge #3.. ditto! Why would anyone go to all that trouble of sewing these pieces together, and then not use it?
Selvedge #4.. some of the fabrics are dyed as well as stamped. Fun!
Selvedge #5.. some designers realized that we quilters were saving selvedges, and so they fancied them up. Bizarre. The selvedge design and colour now has no relation to the fabric itself. What happened to the dots that show what colours are in the fabric? Aren’t they important?
Selvedge #6… The definition of a selvedge (this can also spelled selvadge) is “the edge of woven fabric finished so as to prevent raveling, often in a narrow tape effect, different from the body of the fabric.” Samples #5 & 6 are both printed in Japan, and the edges are just regular fabric, and no colour dots. Aren’t they worried about the fabric unraveling?
PS: Alright, alright, yes you are famous, we know who you are. No need to shout it out!
One last find: the only one I found with the text upside down!
CozyFunkyCool 
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