Eye Heart Tahlequah Auilt is a fun thing. It has big stripey sides, and the panels are hand dyed and sometimes superimposed with applique confetti that is also hand dyed. In places you will see distressed screenprint "Eye Heart Tahlequah" designs. I was hoping to do it using the Cherokee letters for Tahlequah, but there was some discrepancy between the pronunciation of the word Tahlequah in Cherokee, and the way it is formally written, such as on the old plat books of Indian Territory days. Turns out that recently the University (NSU), Tahlequah and Cherokee Nation have partnered in some promotional advertising that answers the question.... the correct protocol will be to use the historical spelling in Cherokee Syllabary, rather than a literal translation. It suggests that perhaps over time, the way we say Tahlequah has changed. Tah Lah Quah is how one would pronounce the city's name, according to the plat map spellings when the city plat maps were filed. Today when we pronounce it in English, it sounds like like Teh Leh Quah. So, I wonder if our ancestors used to put a glottal stop after the first syllable? If so, the original pronunciation was more like Tot Lah Quah. Fascinating.
Today, check out my Island Retreat Etsy Shop for a boatload of recent quilt listings!
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