How to identify a Holly Hobbie styled quilt
In the 1970's in America there was a great explosion of everything that was Holly Hobbie, in style and design including dolls and quilts. There were many young girls that wanted to live the life of this Mid-Western icon because she represented adventure and having the ability to always coming back home to where the heart is.
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Things You'll Need
- Knowledge of Holly Hobbie Publishing History.
- Knowledge of applique methods.
Instructions
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"Holly Hobbie, as a contract artist, worked with the Humorous Planning department at American Greetings under art director Rex Connors who was responsible for launching "blue girl" as the most identifiable of the Hobby characters. Working in Humorous Planning at that time (1973, 1974) was Bob Childers a veteran humorous concept artist and designer. Childers insisted that there should be a doll. Since no one seemed to listen Childers went home, and on his own time, hand stitched the first prototype and presented it to Connors. Rex Connors then took the doll to Tom Wilson Creative Vice President after which American Greetings approached Knickerbocker Toys concerning the Holly Hobby licence.
In 1974, Knickerbocker Toys licensed the Holly Hobbie character for a line of rag dolls, which were a popular toy for young American girls for several years. Holly Hobbie products are now once again being marketed by American Greetings in association with Carlton Cards." -
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With the inspiration of the beautiful doll, American Greetings designed and printed many bolts of Holly Hobbie fabric panels to sew and quilt with. So of course many Mothers knew how to sew in those days so, they made simple quilts for their daughters. You can still find vintage pieces of these fabric panels in antique shops today. Since these panels were so popular, many seamstresses cut out the image and appliqued it onto another piece of fabric for a different back round to the overall piece. So when you examine you vintage quilts look for small stitching around the center motif to see if has been sewn. That would be a great clue to look for in your search.
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The signature look to this icon that American Greetings produced was a small child with a blue bonnet and a long calico dress that she almost always wore. Now in the fabric panels were, in most cases, printed in the same color scheme manner as the colors in the doll that was produced. So look for a small child with a bonnet and a long calico dress in the picture. Many women sewed with accent fabric on the boarders that had a calico pattern to the pieces to compliment the image. Calico of all shades but primarily in cornflower blues and off whites was a strong reminder to many Americans of the Depression era of feed sacks that were recycled into making dresses for family members during difficult times in America. So the calico printed pattern is a very strong clue to look for when you are finding vintage pieces in shops.
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Tips & Warnings
For more information into Holly Hobbie check out links below.
Do not buy torn quilts or even slightly torn because there is a loss in value.
Avoid buying faded textiles.
Resources
- Photo Credit Sharon L. Neth
