Quilt in a Day Forums

does anyone have a web site that gives the history and meaning of the different colors of the enter square in the log cabin block? I know red means the heart of the home...but that's it.

thanks
sucats

Hi Sucats, try looking at this site and see if it answers your questions:

http://www.womenfolk.com/quilt_pattern_ ... gcabin.htm

Hi Sucats,
I think I read somewhere that a yellow center means the light in the window.Has anyone else heard this??
Sandy

Thanks for the site, Evie. It's awsom that the little log cabin block has such a long and interesting history.

Sucats, I havn't seen you post before. Welcome to the fun, helpfun and sometimes racus forum.

Hi sucats and welcome!
I just came upon this thread. Not sure if you got your answer.
The center of the log cabin square (usually red) is warmth, heart or hearth of the home. I think of it as the fire in the fireplce. The strips are the logs of the cabin. I know that it is in one of Eleanor's books. If you have the log cabin book you will find it.
Have a nice quilting day
Kathy

Here is what the book "Hidden in Plain View" says about the centers on pgs 101-103
"the usual color of the center square was red, because the center square was to represent the fireplace, the hearth of the house"
The black centers, at that time, were usually dark blue because black fabric was not commercially produced until later in the 19th century. Dyes were homemade but not usually stable for black. A Log Cabin with a center square of black (or indigo blue) was considered to be a signal for the Underground Railroad. The yellow center for the log cabin has also been interpreted as a signal for a safe house. The yellow was a beacon of light in the wilderness. The yellow was more available and in African Culture the color yellow signifies life.

Can you tell I am reading this book?
Carolyn

Yes, that's what I've heard. Yellow is the light in the window, or red is the hearth. That's what I've read anyways...

I'd kinda heard something like that Caroline. It's still interesting.