August 7 is National Lighthouse Day

August 07, 2011

Did you know that August 7 is National Lighthouse Day? Yes, it’s an obscure holiday, but Springs Creative has many lighthouse fabrics in its archives, so we decided to share them with you! Read Bart’s blog – he’s our senior stylist in our design studio – and enjoy!

Winds churning from the East, gales gathering from the North, fog so thick in the stillness of the night that you feel you could cut it with a knife, and yet there is a saving grace. In the distance there is a call from a beacon of light to guide the weary traveler through the perilous night of narrow passages and treacherous rocks. Yes, a beacon of hope to every sailor that crosses the sea, a shining fortress known to man as the Lighthouse. These pillars of light have poised themselves on our American shores since 1716 when Boston erected the Brewer lighthouse in Boston Harbor. Lit up by wick lamps, its glorious light saved many a ship from inevitable doom or at least warned them of “LAND HO.” In 1822, the modern lighthouse sprung forth. With the use of prisms, invented by Frenchman Augustin Fesnel, the light traveled further and burned ever so brighter.

Now, you may ask yourself why the history lesson. Well, hasn’t anyone out there heard of National Lighthouse Day? Does 1989 ring a bell when congress enacted the official day of August 7th to celebrate our beacons of light? After all, this is America where the land of the free loves to give celebration to anything worthwhile that should be celebrated. These towers are more than mortar and brick. They romance us with stories and adventures to tell, They lure us in with their ghostly light as they proudly stand distant protecting and defining our shores. They demand admiration as their purpose is to serve and protect. They have become a symbol for direction and guidance. They have been captured in paintings, designed into fabric, used on covers of novels, logos, movies, etc. They have become museums to their thousands of followers that admire their history, as well as their beauty and ominous stature. Yes, they need to be celebrated. You, the quilters of the world, the sewers of all sewers – this is your opportunity to take advantage of this history and celebration by conveying a story in patches that expresses the beauty of these magnificent lighthouses. Yes, I was skeptical about this National Day, but where would we be without a guiding light? If it is not the lighthouse itself that engrosses your senses, it should be the symbol of promise and hope. Our archive is filled with swatches of lighthouses. I am sure that if you dig through your stashed treasures of fabric swatches, you are bound to find your own monument of light.

–– Bart

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