Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Memorial Quilt: Fallen Soldier

I have been working on a memorial quilt for the daughter of a Colonel who lost his life while serving in Iraq. 



When I received the box of clothes I was more than moved at the items that I had been sent. Included in the box was his favorite shirt (a red, white & blue Ralph Lauren cotton shirt), his camouflage jacket, a blue polo shirt and his dress uniform - in which he walked his daughter down the aisle when he gave her away at her wedding (black dress jacket & blue trousers with gold ribbon stripe.)





The quilt pattern is a Lone Star - which I think can be a very majestic pattern.



 

 There are feather swags between the points of the stars.


Each star point is made from the gold ribbed ribbon that went down the side of the dress pants. 


If there were any fabric remains the family had asked for a pillow or a doll. We had enough fabric for both. The pillow has many of the patches that I took off the camouflage jacket. The doll is made from some of the camouflage jacket and shirt material. Her hat is made from a cuff from the camouflage jacket and I added some gold buttons from the black dress jacket. My girls were cuckoo over this doll and kept coming to ask where the doll was, to stare at her AND asking when they would get a doll too.




The backing is flannel and the batting is wool. Even with the dense quilting the quilt was not stiff. Here is a shot of the back of the quilt for those of us who are obsessed with seeing the back of a quilt too!


Once the quilt was folded up ready to go home it looked so regal - I felt quite overwhelmed. I do hope that the family love it.


5 comments:

  1. This is freaking amazing-everything about it-the sentiment, the repurposing, the quilting. Wow . . . .

    Hillary

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  2. What a beautiful and amazing job you have done to bring comfort to the Colonel's family.

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  3. What an amazing job you have done for this family in memory of the Colonel. It certainly tugged at the heart reading the story and imagining opening that box to reveal the items. I am sure the family will treasure it.

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  4. Hello Rachael,
    I was looking for ideas for a quilt to be made of men's' shirts! I came across the pictures of your very beautiful and inspired Lone Star quilt made for the family of a Colonel who lost his life in Iraq (your entry 24/02/15). I must say it brought tears to my eyes - you have captured the simplicity and dignity suitable for a Memorial yet the star symbol lifts it from the ordinary. I have seen many pictures of 'quilts of valour' but yours is, to my mind, the loveliest example of such a memorial. We don't have the custom, here in UK, of making such quilts which seems to be a shame. However, I also think the quilts made by you for the Irish family were almost celebratory - and that's no bad thing. I'm filled with admiration of your creativity. We lost our only daughter to cancer some years ago and I would cherish even a small keepsake made from an item of her clothing....... but of course that's not possible now.
    Val Edwards

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