Historical Color: Updated Ideas

Orchids in purple, green and white with gold

The Saturday Morning Posts will begin on Saturday, September 1, 2012. You may want to think about collecting fabrics. See the side bar for historical reasons for the color suggestions.

Purple, green and white inspiration from nature:

Hydrangeas

Hydrangea close-up

Becky Brown is making sample blocks

 in a range of purples, greens and whites

She makes up a color swatch card that she takes with her

when she goes fabric shopping.

Inspired by last year's Infinite Variety exhibit by the American Folk Art Museum, Georgann Eglinski is going to make the blocks in red and white---she's using a plain white and a few textured reds.

The gold color used by American organizations recalls the importance of chrome orange and chrome yellow to 19th-century quilters.

Dealer Laura Fisher has two samplers in stock that make the most of what we call cheddar.

The one above with the gold sashing is dated 1864.

Here's one that looks to date from the early 20th century---the same time period we'll be focusing on.

This style of rather disorganized sampler is typical of quilts a century ago: different sized blocks set side-by-side.

Click on these links to see more of these samplers:
http://www.laurafisherquilts.com/shop/Quilts/p/RAHWAY-NEW-JERSEY-CIVIL-WAR-ALBUM-SAMPLER-ANTIQUE-QUILT-sku-10839.htm

http://www.laurafisherquilts.com/shop/Quilts/ANTIQUE-QUILTS/p/SAMPLER-ANTIQUE-QUILT-signed-ELMER-ANNIE-ROLLO--sku-10343.htm

Arts & Crafts graphics and style were often used as in the Christmas card above and the political poster below.

So William Morris reproduction prints would be appropriate. See what Sheila (The Quilting Gammy) did for her William Meets the Farmer's Wife sampler last year.
http://barbarabrackman.blogspot.com/2012/03/morris-quilts.html

Another option is a combination of contemporary color in grays with Arts & Crafts prints. Grays and taupes work so well in today's decor.

The first few blocks will have more information about symbolic color so you'll have time to think about it after September 1st.

1911 Poster for the California Campaign

by Bertha Margaret Boye (1883-1930)

of San Francisco