Zeno's Bar & Grill
Friday, December 08, 2006
Everything Old is New Again
First, there was suburban toile, which is particularly fabulous in its utility blanket incarnation. Then, there's Schott's Almanac with its tabulation of modern trivia, from terminology to data and lists (e.g., of new waxworks at Madame Tussauds; who wore what to the Oscars and the songs on George Bush's iPod, to name a few.) It seems that reinterpreting the classics with a modern spin is becoming downright trendy.
It got me thinking: what else could one apply this strategy to? A friend told me that he knows someone who embroiders pharmaceutical compounds on needlepoint pillows, so that's already taken.
I thought about it for several days, but I think I've finally got it: a modern redwork quilt. These quilts typically date from the 1800's and have little scenes of classic Americana. My mom has a gorgeous one. Can't you just picture it with BlackBerries, iPods, cell phone towers, hip-hop dancing teens and so on?
--Melanie 
