If you really like the 30's look, stick with the white or a pale cream. I've recently seen a small mottle in very pale cream and white and thought it would be perfect for 30's or Civil War background fabric. To me, "the look" is more important than the fact that it might need more frequent washing. JMO, of course.
I like mixing the white on white or white on natural or white on tan prints with 30's repro's. The WOW is such a subtle print that you don't even really notice that it's a print. The white on natural might be your favorite because there's variation to hide smudges of this or that, but it's light-colored enough to pass for a traditional muslin. Be careful buying this type of print if the design is dense, because it can be a bear to quilt through, even by machine. If you go with the prints made of fine lines and tiny designs, you can't tell the difference when you're quilting.
I hand-appliqued 36 Sunbonnet Sues and Sam's on the WOW backgrounds once for a swap - the densely printed ones made me absolutely crazy. When quilting them, you might get a lot of skipped stitches.
Beautiful quilt - now I
have to get that book!
