Post-War Moderne Color Scheme

The time period right after WWII but before Flower Power hit in the 1960s is a less than twenty-year span.

A popular style of the time, both in architecture and in home interior design, is a branch of Art Deco collectors call Post-War Moderne. In addition, a twin obsession with all things French and Tahitian really got rolling in 1958 when the musical South Pacific jumped from Broadway to the Hollywood screen. Barkcloth with tropical themes, blond Heywood Wakefield furniture, and colored Melmac dishes were only a few of the interesting trends of the period. And there were a few really odd color schemes that popped up. Witness this combination of gray, dark green, maroon, chartruese, and peachy orange.
Things certainly have come back around since the recent TV hit Mad Men has started a fad in imitating and collecting vintage clothing and furnishings of that time period. But this color combination, unlike any that I can reference, remains unique. It seldom made it into quilts (which were being made less and less as women took to office jobs) or into mainstream clothing. Just on your great-aunt Zelda's back porch!

"There is no blue-" Color Influences

I admit it-one of my all-time favorite colors is that intense golden-orange that quilt collectors now call 'cheddar.' Perhaps, if you're quilt-savvy, those colors say "Southern, late 19th-century, early 20th-century quilt-" but I'd like the association expanded. Sure, I love the teal blue-cheddar of many of my region's older quilts. But then again, inspiration can come from many sources.

One of my artistic idols, Vincent Van Gogh, was so sure of the rightness of his favorite color triumvirate that he once wrote to his brother Theo, " There is no blue without yellow and without orange." I concur. This color scheme always turns my head. It's in my head-can't help it. My generation revels in it. Vince would have loved the chopped-down VW wagon and approved of the sentiment.

I have an old Rob Peter to Pay Paul quilt and it inspired me to make a zippy wall hanging in wild fabrics. The curved block, being quite large, is easy to sew. Wow, this pattern has so many design possibilities! After inspecting the old quilt, I was delighted to see that the quilter had personalized it. She quilted around her hand and had even signed it 'Leola.'

How many of you have actually signed your name into your quilt? Or traced around your hand?

This gives a personal and unique identity to this quilt when described as a "handmade quilt."

On the Path Again in Black and White

There are so many ways to put the pattern Drunkard's Path together! I found this old beauty on an online auction site. The way this pattern works is that the blocks seem to fall down the quilt in diagonal rows, thus the name "Falling Timbers."
The variety of black-n-white prints found in this piece is staggering. Tiny-scale prints like these were a mainstay of 1890-1920 everyday at-home women's clothing. The dull prints were sometimes called "mourning prints," referring to the subdued clothing one might wear after a death in the family. They were also marketed as "Shaker Grays" or "Quaker Grays." I guess the presumption was that these religious folks would naturally wear modest, as in dull, clothing.

What I love is the contrast here between the tiny black-n-white prints and the prominent diagonal lines of distinctly Deco brighter fabrics. Perhaps this quilt top was made from an inter-generational scrap bag? In any case, it's a happy mixture of grays from grandmaw and modern prints that make for an interesting overall pattern.

Speaking of black-n-white...check out this link for the listing (and pics) of the latest classes at the Quilt Studio http://www.peppercory.com/quilt_studio.html
A picture of a possible outcome of the Black and White class is on the upper right.