ANZAC Day 2011

Another weekend and another lovely block from Barbara Brackman.   This block is called Comfort Quilt and how appropriate that is coincides with Anzac Day.  

I used purple and khaki this week, I recently bought this purple (Jo Morton) because I want to broaden the colour range in these blocks.   I had the khaki and then needed a sympathetic shirting, after a dig around in some long forgotten pieces I found just the perfect one that had both these colours, whew!!  that was lucky!!!

As I said this is an appropriate block for this weekend especially here in Australia and New Zealand as we are remembering the fallen soldiers who fought at Gallipoli 96 years ago!  An event that saw the birth of the Anzac spirit.  

As it happens my mother's family have two fallen soldiers who were with the New Zealand Army Corp,  Trooper Frank Woodhouse who died at Gallipoli and Rifleman John Willian O'Leary who died in the Somme in France.  They are my great-great uncles!

New Zealand and Australia are two countrys that have a very unique bond!

During wartime women have always delivered comfort where they can.   Nursing, and providing for the basic necessities such as bedding and warm clothes.

This Log Cabin Quilt was made during the 1940's out of wool scraps including from army uniforms, hand pieced, tied and stuffed with an army blanket.

This is one of the many quilts featured in quilt historian Annette Gero's book, "The Fabric of Society - Australia's Quilt Heritage from Convict Times to 1960".

 

A Crimean War Quilt from the collection of the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

This is a World War II Signature Quilt made by the Red Cross Durie Hill Sub Centre and the Wanganui Women's Club, New Zealand.

The last two photos come from a book called "Warm Heritage - Old Patchwork Quilts and Coverlets in New Zealand and the Women Who Made Them"  by quilt historian Pamela Fitz Gerald.

Both Annette's and Pamela's books contain a chapter on wartime quilts and are a part of ordinary women's history during wartime.

Sadly Pamela passed away last December.   There was an article about her and her contribution to New Zealand's quilting heritage in the latest 'New Zealand Quilter' magazine.

I received this copy in the mail a few days ago.

I have been working on a Civil War Needle Case for my partner in North Carolina.   I belong to Kathy Tracey's yahoo group SmallQuiltTalk.   We put our names forward to do a Needle Case swap and were assigned partners with whom we will exchange our Needle Cases.   There are members from many different countries and it will be so nice to see what everyone has made.   There was no set pattern so I created my own taking ideas from several different needle keeps/cases I have seen.  

It is completed now so I'll be able to show you after everyone gets theirs!

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

This Ode comes from 'For the Fallen' a poem by the English poet & writer Laurence Binyon, it has been used in association with commemoration services in Australia since 1921.

Thankyou for dropping by.

Merilyn