Ansonia for FreeSpirit Fabrics circa 2014
Ansonia is a "valley" town in Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River. Known as the "copper city", Ansonia manufactured heavy machinery, electric supplies, brass and copper products, and silk goods, and was the home of the Ansonia Clock Company. The many industries that flourished in the Naugatuck Valley towns led to the area being known as "the seedbed of Yankee ingenuity".
Anson Green Phelps was one such industrialist, whose grandson William Earle Dodge Stokes built the Ansonia Hotel in NYC and named it after his grandfather. The luxurious hotel, built in the Beaux-Art style at the turn of the century, originally had it's own power plant, and a small farm on the roof that supplied guests and tenants with fresh eggs daily! In the 1960's the hotel's basement swimming pool became a gay bathhouse and swingers club. In the 1970's, the hotel fell into disrepair.
My Ansonia fabric collection celebrates these the contrasts. Here's the description of the collection when it was released: "The grand, old-world glamour of a graceful waltz meets the wild bohemian charm of the tango. Ansonia evokes a mix of art and industry, historic elegance and trend-setting unconventionality. Operatic hot pinks mix with earthy taupes and deep chocolate brown, and psychedelic-acid citron greens whirl with lush, bold blues. The effect is pure drama – the exuberance of fresh discovery juxtaposed with the nostalgic beauty of a bygone era. Let Ansonia inspire your trailblazing creativity with 28 versatile and sophisticated quilting-weight cottons".
Here is some of the inspiration for the the collection:
I created my Here & There pattern with Ansonia prints.
Some of the artwork was used on packaging for SoakWash!
