Since Holland is well-known for its windmills, the indirect name, DELFT MILL, (rather than Dutch Mill) for a pinwheel quilt design, has an extraordinary appeal. Delft is also Johannes Vermeer's home town where he worked with magnificent blues, including what is called Delft blue, in some of his portraits and interiors. In fact, the color combinations for the above illustrations were adapted from Vermeer's GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, painted in 1665 (see detail from the portrait right). DELFT MILL first appeared in print in Nancy Cabot's column, April 1937, in the Chicago Tribune, where she claims the design's namesake blue specifically for the larger triangles, representing what she calls "the horizon," meaning the far background, or empty sky. Compare at this site with other rotating, four-patch designs, including HAZY DAZY and TAKING WING, also BIRDS AND KITES and DUTCH MILL.