Try it on Tuesday: World War II Quilts

From Kelli:

One of the things that drew me into quilting, and keeps me drawn to quilting, is the historical connection.  I truly enjoy looking at antique quilts and seeing how blocks were constructed or finding out what kinds of fabrics were used in quilting.  When I had the chance to review World War II Quilts by Sue Reich published by Schiffer Books, I was immediately drawn to the historical significance and explanation of the quilts and their history.

One thing that I appreciated about the book is that a history of the quilt and its maker is often included.  This Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt was created by Ruth Snow Bowen of Chaplin Connecticut who created more than 350 quilts throughout her lifetime.  She was even recognized for her extraordinary quilting in the 1950’s by Lifetime Magazine.  This quilt was very interesting to me as I have started my own handsewn flower garden quilt and this quilt is the perfect inspiration to pull it out and get working on it again.

I really enjoyed this Stars of Stripes quilt that was made by Laura Allard of Bookings, South Dakota.  I think that this quilt would be able to be easily recreated with a patriotic Jelly Roll and a kaleidoscope ruler.

I have always been interested in signature quilts, but have never made one.  I think it would be neat to have a signature quilt at a wedding for guests to sign.  This circle signature quilt is one of my favorites that I have seen!

This last quilt was probably my favorite in the whole book.  Its a bit hard to see, but in each of the squares, there is an embroidery for each state.  As this quilt was sewn in 1936, Alaska and Hawaii were not included which I thought was interesting.  The reason that I love this quilt so much is that prior to my grandma’s passing in 1990, she had purchased and embroidery pattern which included a block for each state.  After I became interested in embroidery, mom passed the embroidery pattern down to me.  Shortly after receiving the pattern, I tried to transfer the patterns to muslin so that I could start stitching.  Due to age, I was unable to get a clear stamp of the state.  I was getting frustrated and decided that I would probably have to make a copy on the computer and then trace each of the embroidery pieces to muslin.  I was a bit bummed out and set the pattern aside to work on at another time.  Just a few weeks later mom and I were shopping and I discovered that the store had embroidery patterns.  When looking through the books and patterns, I came across a pattern that had an embroidery piece for each of the 50 states.  Coincidence?  I think not!  I have stamped a few of the pieces, but haven’t quite finished one yet, but it is definitely a goal of mine.

By now, you’re probably wondering how you can get yourself a copy of this book.  For now, I am going to keep the book as I haven’t finished reading it.  If you’d like to look at this book for yourself, you can find a copy of World War II Quilts here on Amazon.