This appears to be turning into an apples and oranges debate. Apples = Do you want Timer1 to create an interrupt every 1 second? Oranges = Do you want to leave Timer1 free running and check bits 6 or 7 for time changes?
Pommie is correct about preloading the timer if you want to achieve a 1 second delay before interrupt. Just set bit 7 of TMR1H (Timers were cleared when off, or set right after interrupt while running is fine), turn it on, and wait for rollover. You can also consider the Special Event Trigger of the CCP module to create the interrupt on match.
As Pommie also said, as a free-running timer check bit 7 of TMR1H for alternating seconds.... 1 second ON, 1 second OFF, and so on. Check bit 6 for 1/2 second ON, 1/2 second OFF. Thus, Bit 6 will blink ON each second. But it also "blinks" OFF each second.
For what it's worth, the semantics get in the way.