I'm surprised...

After working on the Frankenstein wall hanging, the turn of the century print that looked like a lace overlay was on my mind.  Did I have more of these kind of prints that I never gave much attention to in the past?

This is the original fabric I called "wild".  As I said, it reminded me of a Battenburg Lace overlay.  

For reference to what I'm saying, this is handmade Battenburg lace.  At one time it graced the collar of a woman's dress.  It is intricate and very beautiful. 

 So a search through some of my vintage fabric produced a piece which measures 35" from selvage to selvage.

Detail of the vintage lace below.

The colors are correct in this image.  Black background with the magenta and ecru lace.

Then I looked through my quilts to find this design style.

After checking out my fabric, I found a print I bought in the 1990's - The Sheryl Roy Collection for South Sea Imports:

Meller and Elffers' in  Textile Designs, categorized this design "Eyelet, Lace, and Netting".  Fabrics of this design suited the copperplate-printing technique allowing for very fine detail and making their mark in the late 19th century.  The design pictured below from the late 19th century looks as though it could have been the inspiration for the South Seas Import piece pictured above.

Image from Textile Designs by Susan Meller and Joost Elffers, page 283.

So I said I was surprised...and I am.  I am surprised more fabric designers haven't picked up on this design sensibility and making a reproduction line to satisfy all the lovers of Steampunk.  

Maybe the original block with the lace design wasn't so "wild" after all, and that I find surprising!