4/09/2013

My Passion for Paisley (Persian Pickles)


 I have a passion for paisleys.  I love them in fabric design and I love stitching them with threads, beads, embroidery and sequins. Paisleys have been a very traditional element in crazy quilts from the very beginning.  They rank right up there with fans and spider webs as popular motifs...  
When I decided to paint the commode chair I knew I wanted to have a paisley cushion and paisley elements in the painted decoration... I have to admit that my experience with buying fabric online has been abysmal, both in quality and color.. But my choices at our two local fabric stores were nil so I was forced to go to internet sites.  First I tried major fabric sites and then I resorted to Google images... The problem with Google images is even though you are offered a huge selection to look at, not all of them are for sale...And that is what happened with my very first and most favorite paisley fabric. I was looking for a paisley that had ALL the rainbow colors I have in my door kit... But this fabric was sold on Etsy last summer and not available anywhere I searched.  If you have this fabric in your stash...let me know as I just love it and I need very little.  I will keep searching for it...it is a Waverly fabric.

So I settled for this fabric...but I found  it on several fabric sites and the colors on the screen varied widely...from very bright and colorful to kinda dull...so we'll see when it arrives..  I do like the whimsical rustic look of the paisleys.







I also ordered this and then I would only use part of my paints which I guess is okay... It is a beautiful paisley though and if I don't use it on the chair I will use it for a bag, Just because the door is rainbow doesn't mean the chair has to be...


  Paisley or Paisley pattern is a term in English for a design using the boteh, a droplet-shaped vegetable motif of Persian or Indian  origin. Such designs became very popular in the West in the 18th and 19th centuries, following imports from British India and were then imitated locally. The pattern is sometimes called "Persian pickles" by American traditionalists, especially quilt-makers, or "Welsh pears" in Welsh textiles as far back as 1888. Its western name derives from the town of Paisley, in central Scotland, a center for textiles where paisley designs were produced
  

4 comments:

Marilyn said...

I like paisleys too but I'm making a case for a friend for her lightbox and she hates them. She used to work in a lab and says they look like sperms. I'll really have to cover up a couple of pieces on her light box cover because I had to use a paisley - it was the only thing I had that would go with the other colours. Luckily it is a very subtle tone-on-tone or I'd have to find something else. I can't decide if I like the 3rd or 4th one best. Can hardly wait to see the chair.

margaret said...

a lovely selections of paisleys you have shared with us today, I am sure the commode chair is going to look wonderful.

Lorraine said...

Love your "paisleys"!

Marlynne said...

Love paisleys too! The ones you selected plus the one you haven't located yet are super! Will be anxious to see the finished product!

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