Quilted
A
Pattern
of Life

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There are some very famous and very important quilts that are notable and are part of history – whether that is ancient or contemporary.

Of the more recent is the ‘Remembrance Quilt’, made after the September 11th attacks in New York. This was made by first and sixth grade children from Roy Gomm Elementary School. This is a very patriotic quilt, designed to show the flag, and indicates the invaluable support from volunteers in the Red Cross that made recovery from the September 11th possible.

The Red Cross quilts are very famous and have been used as a fund raising method for years.

The Red Cross had already got a really famous quilt in its ‘Signature Quilt’. This isn’t, however, just one quilt – it is the name given to quilts produced for fundraising, as a means of providing therapy and a way of expressing the commitment of the many people involved in their making.

It’s astonishing that the simple Red Cross emblem can be reproduced so many different ways and provide such a valuable means of support to the volunteer movement.

The Red Cross Signature Quilts were first made in 1918 to raise funds for the war effort. It established the tradition of incorporating the values of volunteer work and community, bravery and care of the injured and sick. This first quilt was signed by President Woodrow Wilson and his wife, Theodore Roosevelt, Helen Keller and Sarah Bernhardt amongst others.

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The Guicciardini Coverlet is reputedly the oldest quilt in the world and has been dated to the 1300s. Half of it is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the other half housed in Florence, this is very valuable and carefully guarded.

The oldest quilting museum is said to be the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in California. This museum has ever changing exhibitions, and examples of some of the finest quilting from Hawaii and the Amish and Shaker communities in America.

This is a wonderful display of both the very traditional and the very modern pattern styles, and is well worth a visit.

In Australia, in the Eskbank House and Museum Collection, there is a quilt dating back to 1893 known as The Sutton Family Crazy Patchwork Quilt, but the actual maker is not known. This is one of the earliest examples of Australian patchwork quilting.

There is a quilt made by Mary Mayne depicting real places in a village called Eaton Bray in the United Kingdom – it’s a wonderful way of preserving information for future generations. Look in at the web site http://www.eatonbray.com/people/mary-mayne/village-quilt.asp# to check Mary’s quilts. Mary is also a member of the American Quilting Guild.

Mary Mayne also made the Winston Churchill quilt that is displayed at Bletchley Park when the Enigma Code was broken during the war.

These are examples of the ways quilts can reflect the lives of real people, real events, and real places.

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