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Quilt Notes:
"Orange Pekoe" ordinarily refers to "a grade of black tea consisting of the end buds of the shoot or their surrounding two full leaves," so says the dictionary. But the ORANGE PEKOE quilt design is more a celebration apparently of the enchanting mix of orange or amber tea colors, as Nancy Cabot insists in her quilt column in the Chicago Tribune, published on December 28, 1935:
"We are not talking about the tea today, although the title immediately suggests a steaming, clear amber liquid. The quiltmaker who created and named this block christened the square "Orange Pekoe" because of the color arrangement, three shades of orange. The original coverlet was made from scraps which had to be pieced together after much study and arrangement in order to eke out a warm bed covering rather than an object of beauty, but unconsciously much charm and beauty was achieved."
It is clear from the headline that accompanied Cabot's article, illustrated left, that naming a quilt design according to its color harmonies, is news in itself. Not very traditional and not exactly allowing the quilter a full range of choices, but appropriate in this case, and there are comparable titles, for instance, at this site:
AUTUMN TINTS (with Piet Mondrian)
TUTTI FRUITY (with Helen Frankenthaler)
BLUE FIELDS
BLUE BOUTONNIERES
PATCHWORK PINES (with Georgia O'Keeffe)
OLD CROW (with Alexander Calder)
RED SHIELDS
GOLDEN STAIRS (with Marcel Duchamp)
GREEN RIVER (with Georgia O'Keeffe)
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ORANGE PEKOE
