Artful Homemade Quilts Have A Way

[Sunshine]

This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.

When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.

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I have started a Kelley green cross stitch quilt. Am about half done with the cross stitch part. Put it down when I got sick, but will pick it back up after New Year's. Then I have another I want to do in a pinkish lavender, a colonial design. Hope to get them both quilted, but if I don't, my kids can have it done.

When I was a teen my mother quilted a Kelley green for a woman who had done the corss stitch but didn't know how to quilt. I always wanted one like it. The backing was green so the white quilting stitches made a design on the back of the quilt.

 

[freedombecki]

This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.

When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.

I have started a Kelley green cross stitch quilt. Am about half done with the cross stitch part. Put it down when I got sick, but will pick it back up after New Year's. Then I have another I want to do in a pinkish lavender, a colonial design. Hope to get them both quilted, but if I don't, my kids can have it done.

When I was a teen my mother quilted a Kelley green for a woman who had done the corss stitch but didn't know how to quilt. I always wanted one like it. The backing was green so the white quilting stitches made a design on the back of the quilt.

Oh, Sunshine, I'm sorry you weren't feeling well, and hope you're doing a whole lot better from now on. I love cross stitch quilts, and am planning to work some of my postage stamp quilts as to cross stitch designs. I keep notebooks of grid paper to plot out a course. The best postage stamp quilts come from such preplanning. I had a very good friend of mine entrust 30 of her beautiful cross stitches to be put on a wounded soldier quilt back when our boys were getting damaged with IEDs that penetrated their super reinforced humvees. I sent hers directly to the chaplain at Walter Reeds (that was back when.) along with some others I had made. I got the kindest message back from him. They can't tell us the details, but he said something to the effect he particularly enjoyed giving one particular quilt to a soldier, and that it was especially meaningful to the wounded soldier it was given to.(I knew which one he probably meant.) That letter just made me cry. I think I still have a pic of her quilt at my photobucket pic palace.

I found it! Here's Mrs. Spider's beautiful quilt. She did all SouthWest designs, and I had a bolt of the most beautiful Guatemalan rainbow sarape-look fabric in my shop, to go with her many beautiful colors:

Here's one of her designs. I only had one up-close in photobucket--oh, and I know why. I love ornithology:

It takes ever so much more hard work to do a quilt in cross stitch. I hope that you will get a pic of your top when it's done and share it. That one you better insure for five figures. Because that's how much you'd have to pay in labor to have one done by hand even if you were paying minimum wage. When I appraised quilts for insurance purposes, I included what it would cost me to replicate the quilt in skilled labor and unskilled labor costs plus materials at current market. Some didn't like me valuing people's work. Tough bananas. If they wanted my appraisal, it had to be fair my way of looking at it. Some people thought if grandma did it for free, it must not cost anything or be worth as much. That thought if expressed to me brought my primal survival urges to the surface. /end confession.
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[freedombecki]

This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.

When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.

I get really confused when putting similar parts together. One gets turned and escapes my notice. seams are sewn. The error points to itself. The seam ripper comes out, and I get busy. The problem I had (above) in the quilt I worked on all morning (and finished the top) would still be in the confusion/rip/sew process had I not made a plan. They are below, with strips of the darks I used to go along with my quilt. It's not a perfect quilt--I had the wrong quantities of the right fabrics, so I just had to ooch and scooch them wherever. If you put lights in the middle and build your value scale appropriately, you get a radiant look. I was just glad to get a pink quilt outta my hair. For some reason, as pretty a color as pink is, I do very few pink quilts, and finding pink in one of my 600 quilt repertoire is not a common occurrence unless it is a scrap quilt in which anything goes, including pink. Here are photos of my Plan AB to firm plan B. (go figger); also, I placed a few of the beautiful pink fabrics used behind the plans on the screen of the scanner. One of the plan enlargements needs adjustments, so I just put a picture of some of the central area of the pink Fields and Furrows quilt on the scanner to show the pretty pink original fabric I thought I had enough of, but it only allowed me to cut 45, not 48 side strips. That made me go all over the house looking for a similar pink, but the nearest thing I could find was totally unlike the little shell borderesque print, it was too dark, a different color family, and the texture is an eyelash print, light on dark pink. Here's the solution I came up with to resolve the issue of not enough of either fabric to do the outside dark elbows of the log quilt:

 

[freedombecki]

3 Corners of the pink Fields and Furrows arrangement of my log cabin quilt:

Oh, not much else to say, except when you complete a quilt top, sometimes you get this happy feeling. I have that happy feeling.

 

[Sunshine]

This morning, I worked on a pink "Fields and Furrows" log cabin quilt. I found a couple of yards of creamy ground fabric with little pink and green roses on it that could date back to the 1920s or before, I'm not sure. Maybe it is 1960s, when they were doing a lot of tiny flowers for quilts. Anyway, I'm still not quite used to aging fabrics in the state of my birth. In Wyoming where I lived on and off from 1969-2009 a total of 35 years, there were a lot of zero percent humidity days there, and fabrics aged differently. Here, with humidity and warmth most of the year, things get yellower. The quilt below was found on ebay and dates to the 1880s. I picked it because there were no pink fields and furrows quilts, so the blue will show the arrangement peculiar to the name "Fields and Furrows." It is most likely hand done.

When I completed the pink blocks, they made the quilt a little smaller than I wanted, so I went back to my stash and found two more pinks to complete the quilt, but I will have to replace 4 strips with a fabric that is different from the others. We'll see if I can place them in a way that will bring harmony to the rest of the quilt. Hopefully, some little girl at the shelter will enjoy the quilt.

I have started a Kelley green cross stitch quilt. Am about half done with the cross stitch part. Put it down when I got sick, but will pick it back up after New Year's. Then I have another I want to do in a pinkish lavender, a colonial design. Hope to get them both quilted, but if I don't, my kids can have it done.

When I was a teen my mother quilted a Kelley green for a woman who had done the corss stitch but didn't know how to quilt. I always wanted one like it. The backing was green so the white quilting stitches made a design on the back of the quilt.

Oh, Sunshine, I'm sorry you weren't feeling well, and hope you're doing a whole lot better from now on. I love cross stitch quilts, and am planning to work some of my postage stamp quilts as to cross stitch designs. I keep notebooks of grid paper to plot out a course. The best postage stamp quilts come from such preplanning. I had a very good friend of mine entrust 30 of her beautiful cross stitches to be put on a wounded soldier quilt back when our boys were getting damaged with IEDs that penetrated their super reinforced humvees. I sent hers directly to the chaplain at Walter Reeds (that was back when.) along with some others I had made. I got the kindest message back from him. They can't tell us the details, but he said something to the effect he particularly enjoyed giving one particular quilt to a soldier, and that it was especially meaningful to the wounded soldier it was given to.(I knew which one he probably meant.) That letter just made me cry. I think I still have a pic of her quilt at my photobucket pic palace.

I found it! Here's Mrs. Spider's beautiful quilt. She did all SouthWest designs, and I had a bolt of the most beautiful Guatemalan rainbow sarape-look fabric in my shop, to go with her many beautiful colors:

Here's one of her designs. I only had one up-close in photobucket--oh, and I know why. I love ornithology:

It takes ever so much more hard work to do a quilt in cross stitch. I hope that you will get a pic of your top when it's done and share it. That one you better insure for five figures. Because that's how much you'd have to pay in labor to have one done by hand even if you were paying minimum wage. When I appraised quilts for insurance purposes, I included what it would cost me to replicate the quilt in skilled labor and unskilled labor costs plus materials at current market. Some didn't like me valuing people's work. Tough bananas. If they wanted my appraisal, it had to be fair my way of looking at it. Some people thought if grandma did it for free, it must not cost anything or be worth as much. That thought if expressed to me brought my primal survival urges to the surface. /end confession.
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5 figures????? You can't be serious!

Edited to add: That's a great quilt! I was so shocked I forgot~!

 

[Sunshine]

Above is one block of my Kelley green. It is just a stamped pattern.
There are two shades of green working there, but it 's hard to tell in the pic. I'm about half finished, I do recall that, but I don't recall exactly how many blocks it takes. I also have to do the border around all the blocks. Spare time...I can do one block a week. And it's not a productivity thing, it's more of a Zen thing. I just work real slow and zone out when I do this. It's escape. I'm not an expert stitcher by any stretch, but I think my work is decent.

When my mother took the one in to quilt the first thing she said was, 'Oh look at all that pretty cross stitch.' She charged $15, but the woman gave her $20.

 

[freedombecki]

Above is one block of my Kelley green. It is just a stamped pattern.
There are two shades of green working there, but it 's hard to tell in the pic. I'm about half finished, I do recall that, but I don't recall exactly how many blocks it takes. I also have to do the border around all the blocks. Spare time...I can do one block a week. And it's not a productivity thing, it's more of a Zen thing. I just work real slow and zone out when I do this. It's escape. I'm not an expert stitcher by any stretch, but I think my work is decent.

When my mother took the one in to quilt the first thing she said was, 'Oh look at all that pretty cross stitch.' She charged $15, but the woman gave her $20.

Decent? Your work is beautiful Sunshine. My daughter is into green, and she wanted me to make her a green quilt. At first, I thought, "oh, help me." But as I got into doing green scrappy log cabins in 1" strips for her king sized bed, I got to liking green. Now, I'm hooked. Green seems to be a color that once I start doing a green quilt, I just can't burn enough candles, can't get up early enough to get back to working on it. I barely got it finished before we went to visit her, so I don't have any pictures of it. I did, however, talk my husband into taking pictures of my quilts at one of 6 or 7 "Jewels of the Platte" one-woman quilt shows, and I'll try and look it up to share.

I can't get over how beautiful your quilt square is. It's really something.

 

[freedombecki]

I showed my quilts between 1996 and 2003, when my fibro got so bad, I couldn't hang any more shows. The year this one was done, I made 25 quilts to go into Casper's squad cars to give to children a cop might notice was down on his luck or to wrap a victim of shock up in following an automobile accident. Quilts work like magic to comfort shock victims, and failure to wrap someone in shock and care for them can result in a needless death. Never heard back because their rules precluded officers from speaking about any of their work. They're like the military in that regard, but I didn't care. The look on their faces when I was around patrol officers to donate another batch of quilts was all I needed to continue the project until I couldn't quilt as much any more due to fibro.

Well, what do you know. While looking for a green quilt, I found two Fields and furrows quilts I had made over the years. The green one was donated to the squad car quilt project sometime in the above years, and the patriotic one below was sent to wounded soldiers via Walter Reid hospital, I'm pretty sure, if not a Wyoming Veteran's Hosital in Cheyenne. I never knew where the Senator or Representative who distributed them would take the quilts. They were pretty good about letting me know they spent time at the VA Hospital and were happy to have a quilt to give the soldier they visited. One Senator put his visit to a wounded soldier at his website for several years of one of the purple heart quilts me and my group of Purple Heart quilters made from my designs and shop fabric. I quilted and bound all but 3 or 4 of them. It took me 4 years, but of the 36 we distributed through channels, I quilted all but 4 of them. Three ladies flat out donated quilts finished, and one brought one a friend had completed to the quilt meeting we had every week for several years of working on these quilts. It seems like a million years ago, but my records show quilts made between early 2004-2008.

 

[Sunshine]

Decent? Your work is beautiful Sunshine. My daughter is into green, and she wanted me to make her a green quilt. At first, I thought, "oh, help me." But as I got into doing green scrappy log cabins in 1" strips for her king sized bed, I got to liking green. Now, I'm hooked. Green seems to be a color that once I start doing a green quilt, I just can't burn enough candles, can't get up early enough to get back to working on it. I barely got it finished before we went to visit her, so I don't have any pictures of it. I did, however, talk my husband into taking pictures of my quilts at one of 6 or 7 "Jewels of the Platte" one-woman quilt shows, and I'll try and look it up to share.

I can't get over how beautiful your quilt square is. It's really something.

Thanks. I'm flattered! I like green, but really don't have a place to use this if I ever finish it. I do want to make the other one as well, so each of my kiddos will have one.

I do a little counted cross stitch. But have never done anything really ambitious. I will post my Celtic knots I did in a bit. They are all small projects, most of which I did while I was flying. I used to have a horrible fear of flying and doing a little stitching kept my mind off it. The knots are simple, but they are absolutely maddening to do. I also did a Chinese symbol and as easy as it looks it about drove me up the wall!

 

[Sunshine]

Here is some of my Celtic cross stitch. And that Chinese thing! (Once again, strictly amateur, but being from KY, there is some comfort in stitching for a lot of us.)

 

[freedombecki]

Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.

When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.

I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.

China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):

 

[Sunshine]

Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.

When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.

I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.

China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):

Those are great! The thing about Chinese culture, and I was privileged to go there, is that it LOOKS quite simple to us, but it is not. I get smacked in the head when I say that Communism was a step forward for the Chinese. Always by someone who hasn't been there. But those people don't know the Chinese. The Chinese have a plan. A CHINESE plan. We don't understand that. Communism there is already crumbling and will be gone before my children are. They are not invested in being Communist. They are invested in being CHINESE! And they are using Communism to that end. Their culture was NOT destroyed by the Cultural Revolution nor will it EVER be destroyed! They will never be converted to Christianity and there is a reason for that as well. Oh, well, back to stitching.

I threw that Chinese thing away twice and started over, it was that bad. It is a mirror image in all 4 directions. That is what the problem was. I thought copping the illusion with the Celtic knots was a pain, but that Chinese thing beat anything I've ever done!

 

[freedombecki]

Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.

When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.

I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.

China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):

"Note" The color wasn't perfect on the picture. The centers are actually a shade of light red like fire, and not gum pink. The overall look of the actual quilt was RED. I highlighted the contrasts on this quilt without realizing it would make it look red and pink. No way. It was totally a red work. Totally red. *sigh*

Those are great! The thing about Chinese culture, and I was privileged to go there, is that it LOOKS quite simple to us, but it is not. I get smacked in the head when I say that Communism was a step forward for the Chinese. Always by someone who hasn't been there. But those people don't know the Chinese. The Chinese have a plan. A CHINESE plan. We don't understand that. Communism there is already crumbling and will be gone before my children are. They are not invested in being Communist. They are invested in being CHINESE! And they are using Communism to that end. Their culture was NOT destroyed by the Cultural Revolution nor will it EVER be destroyed! They will never be converted to Christianity and there is a reason for that as well. Oh, well, back to stitching.

I threw that Chinese thing away twice and started over, it was that bad. It is a mirror image in all 4 directions. That is what the problem was. I thought copping the illusion with the Celtic knots was a pain, but that Chinese thing beat anything I've ever done!

Well, you nailed it, Sunshine. I figured it in part by tearing my hair out with a design that didn't happen until I realized westernizing the Chinese does not improve the situation. You were able to take your experience and your travels and apply it as a political kinship, and I think I will never worry about the Chinese again, except accept them on the terms you came to understand that their investment is in themselves. That really rings true.



Well, not much new today, except after posting YouTubes on the red and white quilt show that was held in New York City in March of this year, I looked back through photographs my husband took of the wounded soldier quilts, and found this red one. I absolutely loved this quilt, and it was the hardest quilt I had to part with... *sigh* But I did, sometime before 2009, it got reluctantly given to either Rep. Barbary Cubin or new Senator John Barrasso, to hand to a soldier, when we moved to Texas to retire near my family. I did send a couple of boxes to Walter Reid when it was still there, but I can't remember which quilt got sent via whom anymore.

 

[Sunshine]

Those are quite beautiful treasures, Sunshine.

When I was doing professional quilting, a lady liked my machine quilting so well, she brought her beautiful cross-stitched quilts to me. She did one in all beiges that would look well in any castle, one in blues, and a multicolor one--all were exquisite. Your green quilt will have character.

I completely understand what you mean about Chinese looking simple but not being simple. I designed children from 50 countries in Sunbonnet tradition, and the Chinese were the sticklers for me, too. After a week of no progress, I got a book on Chinese culture and another on folk stories of the Chinese. After reading one of the stories about a young woman, her sensitivity and gentleness, I realized what my issue was. I was trying to Westernize them to make them fit in with my quilt. So, I mulled the stories and information I read, and 6 weeks later, did the design in a couple of hours. I have to think a long time about a some designs before the final product gels.

China Dolls: (sorry for the blurry picture, it's all I have--the quilt was given to one of my children when we moved back to Texas):

"Note" The color wasn't perfect on the picture. The centers are actually a shade of light red like fire, and not gum pink. The overall look of the actual quilt was RED. I highlighted the contrasts on this quilt without realizing it would make it look red and pink. No way. It was totally a red work. Totally red. *sigh*

Those are great! The thing about Chinese culture, and I was privileged to go there, is that it LOOKS quite simple to us, but it is not. I get smacked in the head when I say that Communism was a step forward for the Chinese. Always by someone who hasn't been there. But those people don't know the Chinese. The Chinese have a plan. A CHINESE plan. We don't understand that. Communism there is already crumbling and will be gone before my children are. They are not invested in being Communist. They are invested in being CHINESE! And they are using Communism to that end. Their culture was NOT destroyed by the Cultural Revolution nor will it EVER be destroyed! They will never be converted to Christianity and there is a reason for that as well. Oh, well, back to stitching.

I threw that Chinese thing away twice and started over, it was that bad. It is a mirror image in all 4 directions. That is what the problem was. I thought copping the illusion with the Celtic knots was a pain, but that Chinese thing beat anything I've ever done!

Well, you nailed it, Sunshine. I figured it in part by tearing my hair out with a design that didn't happen until I realized westernizing the Chinese does not improve the situation. You were able to take your experience and your travels and apply it as a political kinship, and I think I will never worry about the Chinese again, except accept them on the terms you came to understand that their investment is in themselves. That really rings true.



Well, not much new today, except after posting YouTubes on the red and white quilt show that was held in New York City in March of this year, I looked back through photographs my husband took of the wounded soldier quilts, and found this red one. I absolutely loved this quilt, and it was the hardest quilt I had to part with... *sigh* But I did, sometime before 2009, it got reluctantly given to either Rep. Barbary Cubin or new Senator John Barrasso, to hand to a soldier, when we moved to Texas to retire near my family. I did send a couple of boxes to Walter Reid when it was still there, but I can't remember which quilt got sent via whom anymore.

That is a very pretty one as well. You do know that in the military hospitals and clinics Friday is 'red day.' They all wear red until the soldiers all come home.

 

[freedombecki]

That is a very pretty one as well. You do know that in the military hospitals and clinics Friday is 'red day.' They all wear red until the soldiers all come home.

Thanks, Sunshine. I didn't know about Friday being "Red day." It must be disheartening to see America's best always coming to them, having spilled or sweated blood to protect people. The wearing of red seems a fitting reminder we are still engaged.

Edit: Oh, I found this:

US Military Families Red Fridays

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts Friday -and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that..

Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red. By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers. Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.


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[Sunshine]

That is a very pretty one as well. You do know that in the military hospitals and clinics Friday is 'red day.' They all wear red until the soldiers all come home.

Thanks, Sunshine. I didn't know about Friday being "Red day." It must be disheartening to see America's best always coming to them, having spilled or sweated blood to protect people. The wearing of red seems a fitting reminder we are still engaged.

Edit: Oh, I found this:

US Military Families Red Fridays

RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing Red every Friday. The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the "silent majority". We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, country and home in record breaking numbers.

We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops. Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts Friday -and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that..

Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wear something red. By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers. If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once "silent" majority is on their side more than ever, certainly more than the media lets on.

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can we do to make things better for you?" is...We need your support and your prayers. Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.


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Yes, that's it! Red Friday!

 

[freedombecki]

Yes, that's it! Red Friday!

Just out of curiosity, Sunshine, how long would it take you to do one of the outside borders on the green quilt? Not meaning to pry, but I'm just dying to see it.

 

[freedombecki]

On December 26, 2004, the Sumatra earthquake hit the Indian Ocean, bringing flooding and devastation to every coastline, reef, and island in that unfortunate area. The Senior High group at our church in Wyoming decided to send care packages to the victims, and asked everybody to bring stuff. We did, but I had an ace up my sleeve. On their handout of items needed, "baby blankets" was on the list. I thought of the little tops I'd made for class projects, shop decorations, etc. that might be used. Our display boxes were just about the right size for receiving blankets, albeit slightly longer, but about the right width. With no further adieu, I climbed the latter and pulled out all the little quilt tops I'd made and found a few more retired ones upstairs. None had ever been used, of course, and I had a stack of 6 or 7 quilts. We actually took 9 tops to the Senior Highs for distribution in the Indian Ocean to babies whose worldly goods had all washed out to sea. It's a miracle there were survivors, but I remember reading how after 2 or 3 months, a parent would be reunited with a baby or child washed out to sea, but rescued by some good samaritan or another, if it was lucky enough to cling to something or find an adult clinging to something that floated. Those stories just lit my fire. I worked nonstop for 2 weeks readying the quilts in time for the seniors to ship them to the greater mission center that took that sort of thing over there on designated boats to help survivors of the tidal wave and floods they caused that washed away hundreds of thousands of homes, shelters, and people. anyway, the map is courtesy of this link, and the photos were taken by my dear husband.

 

[freedombecki]

More of my December 26, 2004 Tsunami quilts completed by January (?) 2005 for the Senior High Mission to send child care packages to victims of the disaster. The tree quilt was made from leftover from my designed tree quilt shown somewhere above and had been donated to the Westwind Gallery's Artist Guild a year or so earlier (?) Not sure of dates that long ago anymore:

 

[freedombecki]

And one more page that includes a square of one of the quilts that had not been completed, but I dug into extra blocks to make just one more tsunami quilt on such short notice. When I do quilts for disaster situations, I often recall Emily Dickinson's famous quote, "If I can ease one heart the aching, I shall not have lived in vain." Emily's words still inspire a lot of people like me to send things like the ones below.

To note: we took these pictures the day before we took them to church. I finished two more that may never have gotten photographed or we lost the photos, I can't remember which. I had to take a break from the soldier quilts to complete the little quilts as I recollect.