Twelve Quilts of Christmas – #5

 

Worn, loved and energetic, almost mesmerizing.  The block may be called Pinwheel, but even though it is blue and white it makes me think of peppermint swirl … okay maybe it is the season making me think that!

 

I just had to include this one, even though the photo is not as clear as I would normally choose and even though you can clearly see the right edge of the quilt is torn and tattered.  Was that wear from pulling the quilt up tight around their chin at night to keep out the cold?  That worn part just makes me smile.  I see it as a sign that this quilt was used and loved, and that is just as it should be.

 

I appreciate the circle in the centre of the pinwheel which cleverly helps avoid what would be a messy and bulky intersection in the middle if it wasn’t there.  Sometimes design decisions are just about practicalities. Plus it is a place for the eye to resist amid all the swirling and whirling.

 

What I appreciate about the squares on point sashing is that it is the perfect foil to the whirling circles.  This sashing design serves two purposes.  It gives boundaries and holds in the energy of the whirling circles while giving the eye another space to rest in those white squares on point.  At the same time, those same white squares on point have a visual permeability to the sashing as opposed to a stark, hard stop if the sashing had just been only strips of the dark blue fabric; allowing the visual dance to slow down but not stop as the eye moves from circle to circle.

 

What do you look at first in this very lively quilt? The sashing or the pinwheels?