I had a thought about the passing of the measuring machine - could it be that the invention of polyester made tearing the fabric impossible and it had to be cut by hand?

In the 70's I used so much of that fantastic no iron new stuff for sewing clothes for my 2 DD's and myself that they accused me of killing so many polyesters that I made them an endangered species.

I'm thinking the 'grainy part' might be, because the thread count isn't as high as most quilting fabric is today. That would make it seem more coarse, I'd think.

I too believe the fabric is from the fifties. I remember going to our Penney's store to buy fabric. I made my little girls dresses out of it and washed with a wringer washer. They held up well but had to be ironed but then again so did everything else. I still remember going with my friend when our Penney's stopped selling fabric. What a madhouse. There was bodily harm done.

[quote=NewYearsOld]I loved SoFro fabrics and also NorthWest Fabrics. Sad that they have passed from existence.

Oh, my gosh! I remember those measuring machines!! In regards to tearing material - I was taught not to do that as it stressed the material, to always cut it . . .

I paid .98 a yard for some good percale to back a quilt, and my grandma told me I paid too much! (She was finishing the log cabin quilt I had chosen and I was to buy the backing for it. She didn't think the backing needed to be that fancy, but the color is as true today as the day I bought it.)

I was going to say early 60s. I can remember fabric for 49cents a yard. Most was 79 or 99 cents. I have a seam gauge I bought back then at Penny's. It has served me well for all those years. The new ones they make just don't come close to that quality.

wished I could help you. Penny

My mother's family owned a "general merchandise" store in our small town. We bought EVERYTHING there. Only when we wanted something very special did we go to the next town to shop around. That store had everything you could imagine in it. There was a warehouse full of sacks of animal feed, flour, salt; tanks of kerosene, supplies for horses (those were used instead of the more modern tractors). There were dishes, ladies hats, men's work clothes (khakis and denims), shoes -- work shoes, dress shoes, kids shoes. And in the front of the store were bolts of fabric, patterns, thread and other notions, costume jewelry, small appliances - toasters, hand mixers, and, in later years, electric rice pots. We could also get all of our lingerie items there too. And the list goes on.

We bought all of our fabric there and when we went to church there may have been someone else dressed in the same fabric. A friend and I always tried to have at least one matching (of course, different colors of the same print) outfit every season. I still have pieces of some of that fabric (the store closed in '75). I don't remember the prices, though. The pattern line was Advance.

Our first sewing machine came from that store. The brand was Blue Grass. It was a sturdy machine that sewed "many miles." It resembled the old black Singers. It was a heavy machine in a cabinet.

[quote=chris_quilts]Ooooh! I remember all those things and stores too. I thought Northwest Fabrics became Hancock Fabrics.