World War II Quilts - AQSG Study Center

Though it is true that many women were busy working outside the home and taking part in other war effort activities, the impression that no one was quilting during WWII was refuted by Sue Reich's many examples and her thorough research of newspaper references to quilt activities during those years.
Women have a long history of expressing themselves through their quilts.This study center in Lincoln, NE, last week focused on  the time period of 1941-1945.
Not all quilts related to war are done in red, white and blue.  Here we see a couple of military figures included in the pre-tinted motifs which could be embellished with embroidery and used for pillows or other decoration.

Factories ran 24 hours a day which meant there were many night shift workers trying to sleep during the day. This unusual quilt features the silky banners to be displayed at the homes of those workers. They remind visitors that someone is sleeping. They are set alternately with parachute fabric.

  "Quiet Please. Night Shift War Worker Sleeping."

These silk 'sweetheart' pillow covers were popular gift items often sent back home to loved ones.

Someone made a quilt out of the tops.

V for Victory - a popular motif in many formats.

 Here's Sue with her helpers at the opening night event at the IQSC

Be on the look-out for fabric that may also help date quilts from that era in quilts that do not have an obvious connection.

and for labels like this one indicating a specific group of women with a mission.

Not all quilts made during this time were so graphically obvious about the subject of the war and patriotism. Here's one block of an embroidered quilt honoring the memory of lost loved ones. Perhaps this was a fundraising quilt where people paid a certain amount of money to have their name included. 

In the center of the circle is "In Memory of Clifford Snyder" with the four outer inscriptions also in memory of a specific soldier.

 

This quilt, at a distance, just looks like a graphic motif - maybe an asterisk - but look closer. The pattern is formed with four 'V's" and is  called "V" block.

The pattern is in this book by Ruby McKim or you can download a PDF for the pattern here.  This book was first published in 1931 but it is common for blocks to be reissued and renamed over the years.

I have shared here just a few images from the study center and the additional quilts shown at the IQSC with permission from Sue. She offers a wide variety of talks. For more information, or to book a presentation in your area, click here.

 Next: Early Twentieth Century Quilts

Patriotic Quilts

It's the 4th of July weekend and here in Minnesota, miles from Lake Wobegon, it's brutally hot - with a heat index at 107....it feels like a sauna out there. So I am staying in the a/c as much as possible, feasting on cold watermelon and treating myself like it's a holiday.

Quilts expressing patriotism or political convictions have been made throughout the years, peaking especially during times of war, election time, the Centennial Exposition of 1876, the bicentennial of 1976 and after 9/11 in the U.S.

I made this quilt several years ago. I call it 'Star Spangled Sparkler' though the design is often called Farmer's Daughter (which I am, come to think of it!)
The use of red, white and blue, intentional or not, lends any quilt an undeniable patriotic aesthetic.
 

Hand quilted in an overall 'fan'

I started these flags on the 4th of July in 2007 with the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy playing on the TV in my sewing room. (Egads! I pride myself on keeping good quilt records but I now realize this habit can be a real downer! FOUR years ago?? Impossible!)
The pattern is '12 Star Salute' by Cotton Pickin' Designs. I added an extra row so I guess it's really a 15 Star Salute. The photo shows only part of that extra row at the top. I will do a better job of photography in its next appearance.....Maybe by July 4, 2012 it will have become a real quilt and be on a bed at the cabin.

These two 30" square Lonestar tops were made for teaching samples 'some time ago'. I refuse to look up the exact year. I am into medallions now so one (or both) may become the stellar centerpiece of a larger quilt. Truly, there is some benefit in not rushing things. Good ideas need to germinate.

I have plenty of appropriate fabrics in this category

 I tried to contain them within an old dish pan but.....I forecast lots of pieced backs on the finished quilts.....

 

The only 'vintage' example I have in my collection is this crib sized quilt featuring the bicentennial logo. It was offered by Mountain Mist in1976 both as a pattern and a kit in crib or full size.  The 'red' in this one leans toward orange....

..... but the amazing thing about it is that it is not pieced but appliqued.  I get the logo at the center of each star but those tiny little triangles?  yes...all appliqued onto a white wholecloth foundation which I believe you can see in the close-up. On top of that, the fabric is a poly/cotton blend making the task even more daunting than working with all cotton which was hard to find back then.

Here are the Mountain Mist ads which appeared in various needlecraft magazines of the time. My thanks to Rosie Werner and her kit quilt identification site for these images. 

  

Though red, white and blue are perhaps the most frequently used colors in American quilts with political or patriotic intent, here are two of my favorite exceptions from the book All Flags Flying by Robert Bishop and Carter Houck.





"Sweet Land of Liberty"   1985
72" x 72"
by
Jeanne Champion Nowakowski
North Carolina

   



"Hope"   1985
72" x 72"
by
 Barbara Barber
Rhode Island

   More information on this subject...........

• An interesting article by Patricia Cummings on political quilt blocks.
• Kim Wulfert's article on patriotic, political and commemorative quilts

 As far as the current market for patriotic quilts, Stella Rubin in Treasure or Not? How to Compare and Value American Quilts, states that in spite of the wide range in quality and style, patriotic themed quilts continue to be of interest to collecters due to their relative rarity and the individuality of designs.

Next: Mariner Medallion Update