Orphans

Nann's comment about my orphans being put to good use got me thinking about the origin (and number) of the patriotic blocks. It all started in 1998, and I blogged about it on whatever platform came before GeoCities.

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              Around the World

This block was made for a member of our quilting group as a going away gift. She left in July because her husband had joined the Army, so in the months before her departure everyone in the group secretly made a block using a Red, White & Blue motif. We presented her with all 12 blocks at her final meeting. As an Army Wife myself, I've spent many years living by the motto expressed in the center square!

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It struck me the other day that our young military wife could conceivably be a grandmother today. How did 25 years evaporate so quickly?!?

The bee members made the project into a block exchange for ourselves (for which I tried my hand at a Star of Bethlehem block instead of making a Trip Around the World again), and those blocks traveled with me from home to home. I collected other fabrics to flesh them out to a good-sized quilt, but that was as far as it got for years and years.

Eighteen, to be exact. In 2016 I pulled them out and took a good look at what I had. They mostly fell into two groups: clear colors and 'country' colors (off-whites, tans, brick reds, navy blues). Of the clears, I selected 6 and set them with a big hunk of lamé I'd bought for my original idea of a patriotic quilt.

I had made several of the Star of Bethlehem blocks (Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! by McClun and Nownes) and had lots of the bits and pieces, most of them still sewn into strips. I was thrilled to be able to use them in this.

As mentioned, I'd made several.

 

 

 

 

 

As near as I can tell/remember, I used up a hunk of red & white stripe to make the binding, fleshing it out with bits of other blue fabrics. This was given to a dear friend, who gave it to her Mother-in-Law who had been in the military.

The second top I made that summer was as part of the Quilts of Valor program. There was a Vet here in my town whose wife had requested a QOV for him, so I got right to work. Two of the 'country' squares were showcased, embiggened with some red flannel, then surrounded by 9-patch blocks from another exchange (the same bee) to produce this:

Presented October 2016

I'm pleased that the last four of the original twelve exchange blocks are being sewn together now. A great deal of the patriotic fabrics have been used up, and there's only one small-ish Star of Bethlehem block remaining (unset: just the star without side triangles and corner squares).

Perhaps a place of prominence on the back?