Concord Fabrics Joan Kessler
 

I come across this fabric pretty regularly at the thrift store. It seems like decent fabric and I know it's older as the prints lean towards "calico". I've used it for backing fabric, but wondering if anyone can tell me more about it.

I googled "Concord Fabrics Joan Kessler" and several posts came up. Perhaps that will help you.

I consider them to be " good quality " fabrics.

I always considered it a good fabric and was made in America. I would snatch up any that I found.

How you have a pic ? I have several prints. As other have said, made in America and good quality fabric

I particularly like Concord fabric and Joan's various lines and have lots of it in the stash. Some I bought at the time and others I find at the thrift store. Although I try to embrace larger scale and modern fabrics, deep down my desire and stash is for a lot of "tiny vine-y" traditional calicoes and that's what I bought 70s-80s... Concord fabric and Dual Duty thread pretty well sums up decades of my quilting.

I agree that it was acceptable quilting quality fabric. The feel and weave of the greige goods (the raw cloth) is good, and especially for the 1980s, about the same quality as Hoffman who had more expensive dye/color saturation/processes and was a step/price higher.

Concord/VIP also made craft fabric items like panels and seasonal prints and the quality of those fabrics maybe isn't up to that used in the Kessler lines. As always, judge each piece on an individual basis.

Thanks for the information everyone.

Ice Blossom, I laughed when I ready your "tiny vine-y" comment as the particular fabric I recently bought can be described exactly this way. When I come across 4 or more yards at the thrift store I usually buy it for backing fabric, figuring it will eventually match some quilt I make. This one was a super light teal-ish green with small pink tulips. After I bought it I kind of regretted it because it looked so dated, but lo and behold I found a match for it. The BOM I participated in this year at my LQS was a super scrappy, one block quilt so nothing fancy. Something about that old Joan Kessler fabric was a good match.

When I started quilting in the 1980's, Concord Fabrics were it. They were the main manufacturer of quilting fabrics, and I sold many a custom quilt from their sample folder. Plus made in the USA. I still have some in my stash.