The zinnias and cosmos are blooming a sure sign we are near the middle of summer.
I don't think I ever posted a photo of my finish zinnia quilt from early 2021. It's a cheerful piece and I haven't given it away yet. I'm thinking of making a second one for two little girl sisters. It was a Lori Holt pattern and I really enjoyed making these blocks!
Try as I might, I just can't seem to wrap my head around calling these flowers zinnias. To me the structure is more similar to coneflowers and black-eyed susans. So, on a whim, I checked to see what kind of patterns our foremothers called "zinnia."
Florence La Ganke designed this zinnia pattern for Nancy Page. It was published in 1930. It's a simple pattern but it does remind me of a zinnia:
This Zinnia pattern (or zennia as they refer to it in the text). Seems to me it's a stretch but I get it. This was published in 1934:
Coneflowers from my garden above. I think that what throws me in the quilt pattern is that coneflowers naturally seem to pull back their petals to better show the pistil. It's almost like the flower is saying, "hey pollinate me!"
Zinnias below. Usually when the petals start going downward, the flower is about to fade. Even the one below shows that the petals are more upward than downward. Which do you think the pattern looks like?
Tomorrow is Flower Friday and if you have anything from your garden to share, email me at allentownquilter@gmail.com.
Have a safe and happy day!
Agreed, I thought it looked like coneflower too! Yours are just beautiful! I planted some this year and was excited for the purple ones, but when you buy at a county gardener's sale in April you take your chances and I wound up with whie and yellow. Both beautiful, but next year I'll get some purples!
ReplyDeletePut me down for coneflower too. I never remember coneflowers when I was growing up. I was an adult when I first saw them. Perhaps in the 1930s coneflower weren't widely known so the patterns were called zinnias. A rose by any other name is sweet and your quilt, whichever name, is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLovely flower photos, Michele. My Coneflowers are just starting and I love them. Funny thing, I was researching Nancy Page and thought I'd check if you had mentioned her on this blog and lo and behold, there it was in this post. So I've included your link in my post today for folks to learn more about this wonderful old time resource, which I love. I swear I was born in the wrong era.
ReplyDelete