A Glimpse Into the Past

Ever wonder where your favorite reproduction prints truly begin?

In this episode of Behind the Seams, Moda President Mark Dunn and Design Director Jamie Chupik take us behind the curtain and into Moda’s archives to explore something truly special — antique mill books.

These books are original textile sample volumes from historic fabric mills. Inside their worn covers are pages of fabric swatches that date back generations — tiny pieces of history carefully preserved.

And they’re more than just beautiful. They’re a blueprint.

What Are Mill Books?

Mill books were used by textile manufacturers to catalog fabric designs, colors, and print runs. Think of them as the original fabric lookbooks — except instead of glossy photography, they contain actual pieces of printed cloth attached to the pages.

Each swatch tells a story:

• The scale of the print
   
• The depth of the color
   
• The motifs that defined an era

Florals, vines, geometrics, delicate stripes — the design language of the past lives inside these books.

Bringing History Forward

At Moda, these antique references aren’t just admired — they’re studied.

Reproduction designers and creative teams use these original mill books to inform modern collections. The goal isn’t simply to copy what once existed. It’s to honor the scale, tone, and authenticity of historic fabrics while adapting them for today’s quilters. 3 Sisters collections include a deep dive into our mill books with particular focus on bringing these historical prints to a modern age.

There’s something powerful about holding a piece of fabric that connects directly back to another time.

Why It Matters

Quilting has always been rooted in tradition. When you sew with reproduction fabrics inspired by antique mill books, you’re participating in a lineage of makers stretching back generations.

These books help ensure that the prints we love aren’t lost to time — they evolve, but they remain recognizable.

And that continuity is part of what makes quilting so meaningful.

Thank you for joining us Behind the Seams.

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