When bright red specks resembling spattered blood appear on linen, it is held to be a token of misfortune, probably of death.
Northern Ohio.

When bright red specks resembling spattered blood appear on linen, it is held to be a token of misfortune, probably of death.
Source: Current Superstitions (1896), entry 1166.
Fanny D. Bergen, editor.
Modern normalized navigation; the historical attribution above remains unchanged.