Colors of the Season

 I'm naturally curious (in case you didn't realize that) and I've been wondering how we arrived at the colors of the season.

Red and green are associated with Christmas.  Here is a great article on how the colors became emblematic of the season!  We think of Hanukkah in terms of blue and white colors and Time printed this article on the symbolism and history of the use of blue and white for this holiday here.

Ruth Finley was a writer of a book called Old Patchwork Quilts which took 14 years to write and was published in 1929.  For the next few years, Finley wrote syndicated articles on quilting including this one below.  

Somewhere I have a 19th century Pine Tree quilt (it might be up at Beth's house) and I can't find a photograph of it now.  Like most quilt patterns, this type of quilt had various names and was even called "Temperance Tree" during the late 19th and early 20th century.

I had told you I have made a lot of Christmas quilts and here are a few:

Snowball scrap quilt for a friend's grandchild.

This quilt and the one below can be used as I-spy quilts:

Cup of cheer quilt

Jewel Christmas Quilt:  I can't remember the name of this pattern, it was in a book published--well before Missouri Star Company tutorials and I think before the disappearing 9 patch was popular.

Every Mother's Child is going to Smile:  I liked the reindeers I saw on a dollar store gift box and adopted the images for a quilt.

Here are some 19th century quilts that I like to pull out this time of year:

Technically, this quilt was repaired in the 20th century (this block for example) but I love the quilting and the feel of this piece:

One of the Kemerer quilts in my collection:

This is from the last quarter of the 20th century and I think she used a lot of coloring book pages for many designs.  Sorry about the terrible quality of this photo.

My favorite vintage quilt that I pull out this time of year and use through the winter.  The stars are made with a huge variety of fabrics (we refer to that as a deep scrap bag) and it is soft and happy and I love it.  It's on my couch (or on me) throughout the season.

If you are in our neck of the woods, we are enjoying a fresh snowfall (10-12 inches!!!).  Tomorrow is Flower Friday and if you want to share any photos, please email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com