Saturday, December 5, 2015

rolling fives

The maker of this wonderful wool quilt from Texas was rolling fives. Either that, or they had a set of dominoes with all fives. What did the number five mean to the maker? We may never know, since we do not know who made the quilt.


There are 56 blocks, or eight rows of seven blocks, and each block has five circular appliquéd patches. All of the patches and blocks are outlined with red feather stitching. Each circle is tied with red thread, and none of the loose ends show on the front of the quilt. It is 72" x 81" and was made in the first half of the 20th century, my guess would be late 1930s or 1940s. I wasn't really looking for anymore wool quilts, but there it was, super bargain and unusual pattern. I couldn't resist!

5 comments:

  1. Well, how fun is that? Glad you gave it a home!

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  2. The number surely had some significance to the maker. Perhaps it was biblical? I found this: "The number 5 symbolizes God's grace, goodness and favor toward humans and is mentioned 318 times in Scripture. Five is the number of grace, and multiplied by itself, which is 25, is 'grace upon grace' (John 1:16). The Ten Commandments contains two sets of 5 commandments. The first five commandments are related to our treatment and relationship with God, and the last five concern our relationship with others humans."

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  3. I always love your interesting finds, Bill! Another great quilt with a unique look and if Susan's on to something a unique story too.

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  4. A group of writers could play with this design/quilt. It's very nice--restrained with a pinch of red.

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  5. I love the detail in the individual blocks! There was clearly method to the madness... But yes, we'll probably never know the real story.

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