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!

Anonymous was a quilter

I first heard the phrase " Anonymous was a woman-" when I read Mirra Bank's book of the same name in the 1980s. But as I study and see yet more 'new' old quilts, I think that anonymous was truly a quilter.

Only rarely do I see a signed quilt but when I find a signature, it's a treasure. The name is sometimes quilted into the fabric's surface in same-color thread and is overlooked by the casual observer. Most often it's just the first name, revealing that the maker never thought this quilt might be viewed by someone who didn't know who she was and what her last name was. This Rob Peter to Pay Paul quilt I bought on ebay shows the quilter's hand outlined in stitches.

Although by any standards a huge piece of work, a handmade quilt large enough for the bed is removed from consideration as "art" since it is a practical domestic object. And it's not hung on the wall like a painting. And it was likely fabricated from common clothing scraps. And it was made by a female. Oh dear.

And then there's the 'say it loud, say it proud' group. In case you missed it, this woman's name began with an H.

Quilting and 'Gone With the Boomerang'

When times were tough in the 1930s Depression, movie theaters in the U.S. rarely closed their doors. People needed entertainment and it only cost a nickle to see a show. I was reminded of that when I saw the movie Australia recently. Starring Nichole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, Australia is a sprawling epic and you need to see it on the big screen. My friend Ernie calls it 'Gone With the Boomerang.'

Maybe the movie Australia is a metaphor for our times. The story starts in 1939 and takes the viewer up through the Japanese bombing of Australia in 1941. Not to give too much away, but the classic Wizard of Oz and its most famous song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" feature as underlying themes to the action onscreen. It got me thinking...

The Obama logo (the road over the hill) was a media tour-de-force and reminded me of the yellow brick road to Oz. And his campaign associated itself with the lyrics of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." If you want proof of that, go to YouTube and type in 'Quilters for Obama.' Or click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HlZ75aDzDI . Once I watched that video and listened to the song, I knew who'd be elected.

Is it coincidental that the youngest cast member of Australia is a half-Aboriginal boy who seems to have magical powers and unites Kidman and Jackman? And the Japanese bombing the city of Darwin was totally unforeseen--maybe echoes of 9/11? Any symbolism here? I think so.

The Way We Learned

If you started quilting in the 1970s, you likely made a sampler quilt. The thought was that you wouldn't get bored making a quilt with different blocks, plus, you'd practice and perfect sewing skills doing various patterns. The problem with a sampler quilt, any sampler quilt, was that once the blocks were done, how did you choose the best fabric to put them together and what was the best block arrangement? Two huge considerations that stymied a lot of us...and accounts for many unfinished sampler quilts languishing in boxes and closets all over America.

I found this wonderful picture on the Net and frankly hope it's all right to use it. It embodies quiltmaking in those days for my generation. We were, and are, the Baby Boomers and that often meant a stint at 'back to the land' living and a re-discovery of pioneer skills. Here this group of young women and their offspring are proudly displaying a sampler quilt they made. I wouldn't be surprised if some of that blue fabric wasn't cut from jeans! If anyone sees this photo and can help further identify it or the people pictured, please contact me. Wouldn't it be lovely to know more about this group?

The photo identification said, " Mt. Warning, NSW (New South Wales), Australia, 1978."

Came on this old photo. That's me, also taken in 1978. I was very serious and very long-haired. It's a shock to think I've been quilting for 30 years. As a card-carrying hippie wild-child, I wasn't supposed to even live this long.

Here's the last verse from Dylan's Forever Young and a link to his website so you can hear the master himself. Read through all the song's lyrics and have a great day.

http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/forever-young


May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.