I am still making shoo-fly blocks in blues and double pinks. I have 7 more blocks to make, then I will be ready to set them together into the planned nap sized quilt.
In the meantime, because I'm using fabrics from the "Temperance Blues" line, I have been curious about quilt block designs that were popular during the Temperance Movement.
An article on Womenfolk.com is titled "The Power of Women's Temperance Movement Quilts". Concerning the Temperance Movement, the article states: "It appears that more quilts were made for this cause than any other." It goes on to say that many different quilt designs were used for these fund raising quilts, but Drunkard's Path and "T" designs are often associated with temperance quilts. And, the article confirms that the colors adopted by the Temperance Movement were blue and white.
Could this block in my collection have been made during that time?
According to "quilthistorytidbits--oldnewlydiscovered", this design is called "Double T" and was published in the Prairie Farmer (Chicago, IL), June 12, 1886. This is certainly within the time frame of the Temperance Movement (1800-1933). And it is made in the movement's color scheme.
The fabrics in the block and the method of piecing do not give many clues to its age. The fabrics are both dotted--the white dotted fabric is thinly woven; the blue dot fabric is a tighter weave. The block is hand-pieced. Fabrics that were produced around 1900 tended to be thinly woven, so it is possible that this block was pieced in the early 1900s.
The block is basically a 9-patch: half-square triangle squares in the 4 corners; a solid square in the center; pairs of flying geese units between the half-square triangle squares.
Because the block is poorly constructed, with no real seam allowances along the edges, I will most likely keep it as is--a curiosity!
