Viet Nam Wall Hanging

Quite a while ago I had thought about making my husband a lap throw representing his Army days, but he also served in the Air Force, and has a desire for a War Between the States lap throw as well.  It was just too many lap throws!  So I decided to make two wall hangings to represent his service time...this is the first one, just completed.  It commemorates his time in Viet Nam in 1970-71 where he served in Chu Lai as a helicopter door gunner for Nighthawk (under Blue Ghost, F Troop, 8th Cavalry).  I happened to find an authentic piece of camouflaged fabric (the real stuff!) in our things...why we had it, I have no idea.  It was perfect for this project!  I's about 3 1/2 feet by 3 3/4 feet.  I recreated some of his photos onto fabric and appliqued most of the wall hanging, adding his patches.

The right side, including the map of Viet Nam.



The left side of the wall hanging.  Cleaning his M-60.  Also shows the Blue Ghost patch.

The Nighthawk patch is below my favorite photo of him with his mini-gun.

The red arrow in the top left photo points to one of his "hooches" or places he lived during his year there.  Look at that SMILE!!!

Tucson Quilt Documentation Project

On Saturday my hubby and I attended the Tucson Quilt Documentation Project.  Every November and April you can bring up to two quilts to be documented on a nationwide database.  Though you can bring some of your own work, I wanted to document two of my older family quilts.  It was a fun and interesting process!

This is a Jacob's Ladder variation called Footprints in the Sands of Time.  It was completely hand pieced and quilted, made of clothing scraps.  Since it has some polyester and wool in it as well as cotton and even silk it must have been a top that was pieced by my great grandmother and either my grandmother or my great aunt  some time in the 60s.  My mother then hand quilted it and gave it to me in 1975.  She wrote her initials and the date on the back corner.

This pattern was called Fifty-four Forty or Fight, and is an older quilt, the top hand pieced by my great-grandmother and great aunt , probably in the 30s based on the fabrics. My mother then quilted it and gave it to me also in the 70s.  This one is all cotton, and has some interesting triangles in the stars that were pieced from two different bolts of the same color green fabric.  One bolt completely faded, and the other bolt retained its color. 

Here are the ladies examining the first quilt.  Everything from history, to square size to quilting stitches per inch is recorded.  The information is then sent to Michigan State University (along with a photo) and is listed by number which can then be searched by anyone on the database.  It is a wonderful American history documentation project!

Here is a closeup of the Fifty-four Forty or Fight quilt, with its new label.  The labels are given to you to whip stitch on the back, and contains the number.

Close-up of the label.

I will be documenting many more quilts in the future, some old and some newer.  It took several hours, but was well worth it, and someday someone may look up one of my quilts on the database and learn something about quilt history in this country.  My great-grandmother, Emily Joella Pruett Butler, and her daughter Annie and my mother, Latane Barton will all be listed as quilters and their work can be seen.  That makes me feel great. 

Heirloom Treasure

I am not sure what year this quilt was made, but I know it was hand-pieced and quilted by my great-grandmother, Emily Joella Pruett Butler and her oldest daughter, Emily Mary Ann Butler.  It is feedsack, and has always been one of my treasures.

 The quilt is lap-size.  I think the size was a determination of just how much material they had right then, because the top is "cut-off" to accommodate the size of the backing which has been curled around from the back to make the border.  It's a shame that some of the front was lost in this way.  One thing I absolutely LOVE about it, are the colors and the way they work with the design.  All of the background triangles are green.  All of the little squares are blue, either light or dark (and just a few pink).  All of the stars are red or pink.  It looks like they were put together randomly, and that makes it all the more interesting.  I know that each woman had to have pieced each square by hand from a basket of cut-out pieces, and then in the end, put it all together.  So, one didn't really pay attention to what the other was doing, necessarily.  The design follows a perfect pattern, but the randomness of the lights and darks is what makes it so much fun!  I adore the bright red against all the light pieces in the one square, and that right next to it is a light star with darker pieces around it.  Two totally different "looks."

 And look very closely at the top left of the folded quilt.  There is a light green triangle that was pieced with a piece of darker green, because I guess they ran out of light green and needed just that tiny little bit more of the green to make that triangle!

This quilt is proudly displayed in my living room on a quilt stand given to me one Christmas about eight years ago.  I used to have the quilt across the back of my couch when my daughter was small, but it's been protected in a pillow case since then, waiting for a chance to display it again.

Success!

OK, it's READY!  Look at the sewing room transformation!  I still want to put up a design wall, curtains, that sort of thing....but I am ready to get busy!  YAYY!!!

The desk will make a good-sized sewing table until one day when I can replace it with a real one.  I also need a new sewing machine.  I am using the one my Mom gave to my daughter, temporarily.  This also doubles as the guest room, and our grandson sleeps among the quilting things when he comes to stay over...

 I have a TV for watching while I work (and our grandson likes having it there for cartoon-watching too) and the basket is an old one that holds some special family scissors and thimbles that belonged to my Aunt Annie years ago, and are treasures.

Lots of quilting magazines, but also my Birds & Blooms, Southern Living, and a collection of books and magazines for our grandson.

Speaking of treasures, this was my Grandmother's handmade wooden spool holder.  She had to work all her life, and this spool holder was at the dry cleaners she owned with my step grandfather when I was growing up.  She would do alterations for customers, and was an amazing seamstress.  She also of course quilted when she could, though her time was very limited.  She (her name was Dovie, like that gentle bird) and Papa Curt would get up before the sun rose, cook their lunch and supper as well as breakfast, pack up the lunch and refrigerate the supper and drive many miles to their shop.  After a long day of work, they would deliver dry cleaning to some people from their car, and return home at dark, or after, to reheat their supper, bathe and fall into bed.  It was a hard life!  She also got what would now be considered COPD from the dry cleaning fluid, suffering with asthma and chronic bronchitis for many years.  She was one of the most wonderful, sweetest people I have ever seen or known, with a gentle, caring heart, and I have always wanted to be just like her.  This spool holder is one of my most prized possessions!

This is a much newer treasure...a very special gift from my daughter and son-in-law last Christmas!  It was exactly what I needed!

And, several years ago I was given this very treasured quilt!  This was a gift from my Mom who made it especially for me, and I love it dearly!  (It is just for show....comes off the bed when our grandson is here!) :)  Well, now that the sewing room is ready for me to get in there and get busy, I guess I better do just that!