2. Amethyst: Suffragettes

Amethyst

Becky Brown

Amethyst, a purple stone, reminds us of the purple, green and white color scheme that helped define the image of Britain's Women's Social and Political Union.

The WSPU marching with banners and sashes

WSPU colors became emblematic of the militant group known as the Suffragettes, who broke away from the more conservative Suffragist organizations in 1903.

After 1908 tricolor sashes and rosettes identified

marchers immediately as militant Suffragettes.

The WSPU sponsored gift shops at their headquarters selling banners and "scarves in various shades of purple as well as white muslin summer blouses and [an]almost unending variety of bags, belts....books, games, blotters, playing cards and indeed almost everything that can be produced in purple, white and green."

A selection of suffrage badges, medals and knick-knacks such as playing cards in the green, purple and white palette. There was a good deal of variety in all the shades from pinkish to dark blue violet. There is some recent discussion that the colors green, white and violet were chosen to echo the motto Give Women the Vote. That's a good way to recall the colors GWV---but the Suffragettes did not ask anyone to give them the vote. They demanded the vote.

 

The WSPU's main mottoes were

Votes for Women

and

Deeds Not Words

Hand-made embroidered and appliqued banners were important in the British campaigns. This banner has the WSPU motto "Deeds Not Words" among the purple, green and white iris. The hammer and horseshoe stands for Hammersmith.  Read more about banners from the Suffrage Atelier here at the VADS (Visual Arts Data Service) database:

http://www.vads.ac.uk/collections/FSB.html

See Lisa Tickner's book on the imagery of the English suffrage campaign, The Spectacle of Women by clicking here for a Google preview:
http://books.google.com/books?id=qjp5Yw_w8XsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=lisa+tickner&source=bl&ots=rHULR1a11i&sig=c50VG2vtO_FIDtf2JvUYOH0CFCk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=v_5JUOKYIoXm8gSh0IGgAw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=lisa%20tickner&f=false

She notes that broadly speaking the colors symbolized purity (white), hope (green) and dignity (purple).

The Amethyst quilt block, a name published by the Kansas City Star's quilt columnist in February 1931, can remember the WSPU's skillful use of color to communicate their presence and their goals.

Becky is doing two quilts---each granddaughter will get one.

A red amethyst from Georgann

Cutting an 8" Finished Block

B - Rotary Cut 1 square 3-3/8". Use templates for the others.

And for 2020 I'm adding a 12" pattern.

Here's an exploded block to show you one way to piece it together. You could also piece the star and then set in the A pieces. Either way you have Y seams. You can do it!

Dustin's dots and woven stripes

#2975a

It's  #2975a in BlockBase. Don't forget the "a" when you do a number search.

I have been playing around at Spoonflower.com and have uploaded a fabric print especially for these blocks. I used images of the parasols that said Votes for Women. Here's a mockup of the Amethyst block from EQ with the magenta colorway. Below is a scaled picture of the print.

I just got the fabric back. It's a little pinker than this photo.

 I did it in both purplish-pink and yellow, thinking 1930s prints.

Click here to see my Material Culture Spoonflower Store. The two different color ways are called VotesForWomenGold and VotesForWomenPurple

http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/materialculture

Do a search in the Spoonflower store for fabric with a suffrage theme and you'll find some other ideas. Use the tags "votes" or "suffrage".

Here's a link to the purple print:

http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/1398433

Here's a link to the gold print:

http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/1398425