Broken Dishes

Broken Dishes is a quilt I made several years ago.

The print blocks are duplications of antique plates. I couldn't resist the pun.

Blue Willow and Tobacco Leaf are two patterns as is a Tree of Life variation, among other designs I'm not familiar with.

I found another print with large and small teapots that I used for the border and corner blocks.

I chose the deep blue background because it reminded me of the linoleum in the old Navy Housing on Yokosuka Base. They had floored the bathroom and kitchen with the same linoleum that was used on the ships. My kitchen and bath were dark blue and a grey/beige tile. Tough? That was the densest, thickest tile you could imagine.

A check with Wikipedia yielded this:

"The heavier gauges of linoleum are known as "battleship linoleum", and are mainly used in high-traffic situations like offices and public buildings. It was originally manufactured to meet the specifications of the U.S. Navy for warship deck covering on enclosed decks instead of wood, hence the name. Most U.S. Navy warships in fact removed their linoleum deck coverings following the attack on Pearl Harbor, as they were considered too flammable."

I'm not too sure about this last sentence. I seem to recall ubiquitous linoleum in ships--even modern ones. but my husband tells me they changed some floors to the Flecto type solid poured acrylic flooring. Just as flammable as the previous, I'm thinking.

I was surprised to find the early linoleum was made of solidified linseed oil. Very strange indeed.

Anyway, I enjoyed quilting this quilt because of all the variation in the plate patterns and large areas afforded by the design. Since making it, during one washing of many previous, the blue decided to migrate. (I never wash my quilts with anything else--always warm water; gentle cycle.) So the change was and is a total mystery to me. It is not unpleasing, but certainly different.

I wish I had taken a good close up of this quilt before the blue.