One of my earliest posts (there haven’t been many) was about an American flag rag quilt I made in honor of my dear Granny who passed away last May. The flag was given to the VA ECRC in Prescott, AZ at a Memorial Service for those who had passed away in their care.
While watching West Wing (a television show that is now available by season on DVD) I came up with another idea for the American flag that would honor our heroes of old.
My husband in the booth.
In its infancy the idea was a bit more than a vague idea. This would be a large quilt, king size when it’s finished.
The "Stars" of Our Show
The blue field will have childrens handprints in white paint representing the stars.
Our First Stripe
The red stripes would be older children and adults handprints in red paint. We got a booth at the 4th of July Celebration in a small town not far from us called Orting.
You see, in Orting there is the Soldiers Home where soldiers retire to. Usually they are destitute with no other resources, some of them have issues (PTSD and the like). It is a wonderful place for them to live with others who have been through similar experiences.
As the idea blossomed it occurred to me that I can collect donations to buy toiletries and other necessities for the old soldiers. Plus, I’ll donate the finished quilt to the Soldiers Home for them to hang. My desire is for the signed handprints to be a reminder that we haven’t forgotten their dedication, service and sacrifice so we might have our freedoms.
Here’s another picture of the handprints later in the day.
More Handprints
In all we ended up with all the “stars” and enough handprints to do three of the seven stripes. We also raised $73.25. It was a satisfying day for a little idea. As I get the quilt put together and more money raised I’ll post more pictures.
It must be noted that our two youngest handprint contributors were a 4-month old and a 10-month old! There was one man who didn’t necessarily want to leave his handprint so he asked a mom if he could take her kids to have their hands printed…he didn’t even know their names!!
I’d like to thank the City of Orting for having me at the celebration.
Happy Quilting!!
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