Quilts inspired by the Service Flags of World War I have become popular during the present wars in Afghanistan and Iraq…to send to the service men and women and to remind those at home of their patriotic family members.

Image: sxc.hu

We have one of these Service Flags, originally made to hand in a window.  My grandmother used it when her son Charles served in World War I.  Consisting of a blue star on a white background, surrounded by red border, it let everyone know her son was serving for their freedom.

Uncle Charles came home from the War.  However, if someone didn’t, a small gold star was added on top of the blue, thus the term “Gold Star Mothers” originated.  Siver stars were used when a service member was injured.

I don’t know if my grandmother made her flag or if someone did and gave it to her.  I’m proud that we still have it in our family.  To me it represents Uncle Charles and other members who served - Uncle Al during World War II and my husand during the Vietnam war.

Today, quilters are making many variations of these banners and quilts.  (An interesting article about Service Quilts appears in McCall’s America Loves Scrap Quilts, Spring 2008 issue.)

Getting together to sew quilts, exchange news, and enjoy one another’s recipes constituted the pioneer quilting bee.  This often was a rare social time for these ladies who were busy with the day-to-day work (drugery in some cases) of running a household and helping with farm chores. 

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Today, quilting and crafting ladies still get together for what I’d call “modern” quilting bees.  As I read Cindy’s Stitches in Time blog post about friends getting together to work on quilt kits they had purchased at quilt show, I pondered on the many types of quilting bees in today’s world of the computer and Internet.

• Friends getting together at one another’s homes to work on projects
• Quilting groups meeting regularly to work on projects; these might be their own or a charity project
• Groups working on fund raising projects
• Internet groups that exchange information and news via e-mail
• Round robin projects sent through the mail to those within a group.
• Two quilters who exchange projects and news via mail and e-mail.
• Quilting classes that continue as quilting groups who meet regularly

(Although I mention quilting bees, these gatherings could involve most any art/craft.)

What type of quiting or crafting bee are you involved in?

Throughout the years, quilts and crafts have been used to raise funds for many causes.  This is a way quilters and crafters can come together and use their talents to create a piece of art for a worthy effort.

Quilts for Fund Raising - Image: sxc.hu

Some of these fund raisers include:

• Raffles
• Auctions
• Bond drives
• Silent auctions
• Craft fairs

In the article, Quilts on display tell history of Sarnia-Lambton, I learned about the “signature quilts” made by quilting groups to raise money for bond drives during World Wars I and II.  For these fund raising efforts, local residents paid to have their names stitched in the quilts.

It was interesting to learn that the curator of a  museum, where one of these quilts was displayed, found the name of his own relative.

What fund raising efforts have you participated in involving quilts or other crafts?

Have you ever wondered what to do with a worn and tattered old quilt?  It’s not worth repairing…there are too many worn and torn pieces.  However, you don’t want to throw it out.  Perhaps you decide to cut it up and convert whatever is usable into pillows, toys, or wall hangings.

Quilts within quilts Image:sxc.hu

Why not use it for the filling of another quilt?  It wouldn’t be a quilt you sell, but one for your own or family use.  The older quilt, even though it isn’t seen, would still have more years doing “undercover work.”

Lisa at her Lisa’s Sew Fun blog, tells about doing this in her post, Behold Old Things Become New. 

How have you used old quilts so that they don’t entirely disappear?

Quilters, fabric artists and seamstresses generally have a love of fabric.  That’s sometimes why they’ve gotten involved in these hobbies, then turned them into businesses to justify all the fabric they collect.

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How to disguise the fabric as they bring it into the house and then where to store it once it’s there becomes a challenge.  What are your techniques and where do you store your fabrics?

My cousin uses some of her fabric (that which overflows the sewing room/office) in the living room as part of the decor.  When I walked into her home, my eyes immediately focused on the fabric and quilts stacked on shelves.  Even though she couldn’t display all of this so you saw the full design, the colorful fabrics were very appealing on shelves.

Penny Halgren, at How to Quilt, has some interesting suggestions about Storing Fabric for Quilting that might help you.  Most of these also would apply to storing fabric for any type of sewing. 

If you wonder how to sneak your fabric into the house, check out Penny’s Clever Fabric Hideaways.

Do you have any suggestions?

Creating family history quilts takes many forms.  These have become popular for preserving memories, pictures, fabric and memorabilia.

Reproducing family photos on fabric, generally with the computer and printer nowadays, although some people still like to make sun prints and similar applications.

Gathering fabrics used in clothing worn by family members, either from many or just one person.  Among these are t-shirts that appeal to a particular family member.

Using designs that connect with a person’s interest, hobby or occupation.  My daughter made a quilt for her young son with blocks of different trucks during his truck stage.

Tracing each family member’s hand and appliquing it to a quilt.  Each person might sign his/her hand.  My daughter did this for her family and added birth dates to the hands.

For a wall quilt, attach three dimensional objects associated with the person or family’s life.

What do you do for family memory quilts?

(Personal History image at Amazon)

Recently I read, in the McKenzie River Reflections (Oregon) about 5th grade students, who raised $1,300 with a Sunflower quilt they made to benefit the McKenzie Outdoor School.

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Although the photo wasn’t in color, the sunflower designs looked lovely and very individual.

Sunflowers seem to be a theme in other schools this year.  In New Hampshire, students planted sunflowers on the front lawn to beautify their school and to promote its “green” theme.

In browsing through my quilting books, I’ve come across three patterns with the sunflower’s name.  Do you know of any more?

• Kansas Sunflower
• Sunflower
• Basket of Sunflowers

Do you ever use a sunflower theme in your crafts?

(My“Country Kitchen” column appears in the print edition of River Reflections. I’ll be writing about sunflowers there soon.)

“I still remember sitting with her in her apartment…quilting while she told me her entire life history. I wish I had the sense to have had a tape recorder, but alas, I did not,”Susan Lazear says, as she relates her experience in a blog entry about restoring her grandmother’s quilt.

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How many of us wish the same…that we’d recorded stories and memories of parents, grandparents and other relatives who are no longer here to tell us about our heritage?  Or we wish we’d at least jotted down some notes as they told stories.

These family stories are precious.  When we hear parents and grandparents telling them, we think we’ll always remember.  Or we may even get tired of hearing them, so tune the person out.

Then, years later, we wish we could recall the details.

It isn’t always convenient to record while someone is talking or it makes them uncomfortable.  At least jot down some notes and record the details.  Sometimes you can even get them to write down their memories, as I did with my dad and aunt.

My mom enjoyed my “interviewing” her as I did other people in my work as a newspaper reporter.  “Are you going to interview me now?” she asked, as we settled at the kitchen table with a cup of tea.

Keep a record of these memories, even when you think you’ll never forget the endless tales of family members. 

Also, record your own memories! 

 ”Mom, you spend so much time on family history but don’t write down your own memories for us,” my daughter commented.  So I’m starting to record mine, too.

 The stories associated with the crafts your family enjoyed in past years or pursue today make a fascinating history and contribute to your family heritage.  I’ve particularly found it fun to trace my family’s connection with quiltmaking.  This is on my mother’s side.  I haven’t sound much connecting any of my dad’s family to crafts and handiwork, although I imagine they did these as part of their daily chores.

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 For women of years ago didn’t need to find a hobby.  They had all the handiwork they could manage as they made quilts for beds, crocheted and hooked rugs for their floors, sewed clothing for their families, made samplers to teach young girls stitching, did gardening as a necessity (although they planted flowers to cheer their lives), and wrote letters as a means of communication.

 Through Mother’s family, I’ve found my quilting heritage.  My grandfather, in his journals, mentions his mother attending quilting gatherings (he didn’t call them bees).  My mom spoke of learning to sew when family and friends gathered.  Her older cousin wrote her about quiltmaking (and I still have that letter). 

I recall learning to quilt and hook rag rugs at my grandmother’s side.  My mother encouraged me to pursue this as a home business at one point in my life.  My daughter and granddaughter have continued this art.

 So….record the memories of family crafts.  Take pictures of your work and that of family members.  Save old quilts and quilt squares and try to find their history.  Retain the stories of your family craft heritage for future generations.

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My quilting heritage descends from the Trails End Quilters.  The ladies who lived at Trails End Farm were my ancestors.   My mother and aunt also grew up there.

I’ve been fortunate to have a cooking notebook that my aunt compiled.  In it she includes recipes from her grandmothers, her mother, other relatives, friends and neighbors.  It’s somewhat a cooking history of the ladies associated with Trails End.

 (Incidentally, it was called Trails End because….the farm was at the end of a dirt road or “the trails end.”)

Ah…to have the time to compile these recipes into a family cookbook, with photos and stories about the Trails End family and friends.  This is another way to preserve one’s family heritage and pass it along to future generations.