Saturday, April 26, 2014

Downtown Foley's

Back in the day, cities, large & small, had their locally-owned department store. Some stores have managed to stay in business, others have either closed their doors or been bought out by large national chains. Ask anyone of a Certain Age about their local store & you'll hear lots of stories & fond memories.

Foley's was one of Houston's department stores. I moved to Houston too late to see Foley's in its prime; by the time I was here, it was Foley's in name only, bought by Macy's. Eventually it lost even its name.

The downtown flagship store was built in 1947. It was a simple, graphic structure that seemed to anticipate the modernity of the last half of the 20th Century. I never really noticed it or gave it much thought -- that is, until it no longer existed -- it was imploded in September of 2013. Then, thanks to the images on the internet, I kind of fell in love with it. The north-facing facade seem to beg to become a quilt. My quilt is not an exact replica of the old building, but an homage to downtown Foley's & all the other department stores that are now gone.



6 comments:

Rachaeldaisy said...

I love the wonderful graphic look and the use of neutral fabrics with the colours. Downtown Foleys is a really wonderful quilt!!

CapitolaQuilter said...

Very cool inspiration and beautiful quilt.

Sharon said...

This is a great quilt! It does capture the look of those "modern" design buildings of the 40's and 50's. Love the bright pops of color with that tan brick color!

cauchy09 said...

oh, this one is perfect!

QuiltingCyclist said...

How I loved that store. Retail as an art form then. Shopping was a trip to another world of sensory delight! Got my first "store bought" dress there for the start of second grade! Would have been 1952. Foley's was also air conditioned. Another reason to catch the bus for a trip to the store. Beth, I think this quilt does capture the essence of what was Foley's in the Mid 20th Century. Thank you.

amy and the bad cats said...

lovely! I moved here when it was still Foley's, and definitely have memories of running over to shop on my lunch break!