Let’s Talk Jane Austen Fabric

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Let’s talk reproduction fabric. More specifically, let’s talk about fabric reproduced from a coverlet Jane Austen made.

The fabric we used in A Chawton Cottage Romance is special, really and truly extraordinary. Most of the fabric in the Jane Austen at Home collection from Riley Blake is directly reproduced from fabrics Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra used in a patchwork coverlet they sewed.

This coverlet is on display at Chawton Cottage, Jane Austens’s home, which is now the Jane Austen House Museum. The coverlet is really quite fantastic—all those whipstitched diamonds, the fussy-cutting, and the angles are a testament to Jane Austen’s expertise with a needle!

Chawton Cottage, now the Jane Austen House Museum, was Jane Austen’s home for many years. The coverlet she sewed with her sister Cassandra is on display there. (Photos © Jane Austen House Museum)

The fabrics Jane and Cassandra used came from various sources. In May 1811, Jane wrote to her sister, “Have you remembered to collect pieces for the patchwork—we are at a standstill.” At the time, Cassandra was staying with their brother Edward. His estate employed a dressmaker, who made clothes for his eleven children, so there were plenty of scraps to go around!

Edward Austen, Jane’s brother, employed a dressmaker who sewed clothing for his eleven children. Busy woman, and lots of scraps for patchwork!

The polka dot print in the collection was a surprise, but there it is, in the quilt! It feels very contemporary, which just goes to show that some designs are eternal. The polka dot: looking fresh and cheerful since 1811!

Here, you can see the polka dot in the sashing of the original coverlet. We’ve used the polka dot print in lots of the blocks, including the Pinwheel Star, which we’ve likened to Sense & Sensibility.

Which is not unlike why we’re still charmed by Jane Austen’s stories. She wrote in the early 1800s. Our language has changed, as have many customs, but the characters and their concerns ring true. Who was dancing with who at the ball last night was—and still is—a topic of vast importance. And matchmaking mama’s who want their sons and daughters “happily situated” continue to thrive today.

All this happenend in a world that had just seen a new nation, the United States of America, born, and was now being rocked by the Napoleonic wars.

Through it all, life and love kept on. Like that polka dot print, the stories are still fresh and cheerful!

One of the fabrics from the collection that was NOT reproduced from the coverlet is the “Correspondence” print. That print was reproduced from letters written by Jane Austen. Her handwriting shows up on many of the quilt blocks in our quilt, A Chawton Cottage Romance, and it’s nice to see a little bit of her peeking through.

That script print! Featuring Jane Austen’s handwriting, which was reproduced from her letters, it’s wonderful… And very, very directional.

The conundrum with this print is its directionality. There’s a very clear left-to-right, up-versus-down orientation. For some quilters, that’s no problem; you just sew your blocks and let the script land where it may. For other quilters, having text upside down and sideways is just not acceptable.

For the latter type, you really need to watch Kate Colleran’s lessons. Log Cabin (for Northanger Abbey), Galaxy Star (for Emma), Chevron (for Mansfield Park), Jacob’s Ladder (for Pride & Prejudice) all feature the handwriting print in different patchwork units, and Kate tells you exactly what you need to do the get the text going in the correct orientation throughout the quilt.

Kate Colleran teaches you how to make ALL your handwriting go the “correct” direction in your quilt, and an extraordinary method for extending a border print.

Another must-see lesson is the Border & Assembly (for Sandition). To get the spectacular border print (reproduced exactly from those whipstitched diamonds in the Jane Austen coverlet) to fit your quilt, Kate teaches a lesson in pin-matching to extend a print. It’s a technique you’re unlikely to see anywhere else, and is incredibly useful for a quilter to know. If you have a showstopper fabric, like that diamond border print, having this clever work-around in your quilting skillset is invaluable.

And don’t forget! Join our FREE quilt-along inspired by the life and novels of Jane Austen. Through Oct. 20th only!

Happy quilting!