World War II Quilts by Sue Reich Published by Schiffer on May 28, 2010
Genres: Craft, History
Pages: 192
Format: Hardcover
Source: Library
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Many American women made warm and attractive quilts to honor and benefit US soldiers during the period 1940-1945, either as outright gifts or as raffle items to raise money for the war effort. This book reflects extensive original research of newspaper and magazine articles of the era, and authenticates the patterns and designs available to quiltmakers, anchoring the quilts historically in time. Color photos and descriptive text identify many patriotic quilts made for donation to the Red Cross and organizations such as Bundles for Britain. When possible, original patterns and designs that inspired the quilts are included. The quilts can now be interpreted from factual and objective perspectives, enhancing their historic and emotional importance.
This book was fascinating and featured many great photographs. Before reading this book, I didn’t know about the Changi Prison, described by Mary Thomas, a British woman imprisoned there and quoted in this book:
At last the grey walls and roofs of the prison appeared on a small hill to our right. We were hot and tired and glad to see them. As we drew near, some of the women felt a gesture of defiance was needed and they began to sing. We had left Katon singing Tipperary and we walked into Changi singing There’ll always be an England… (146).
I loved the story of these spirited women creating a quilt to document their experience. Learning about the patterns and fabrics was also interesting. There was a short piece in the book about the feuding Hatfield and McCoy families uniting for a quilting bee. I loved seeing the creativity of these women on full display in these pages.
On the other hand, I caught a few typos or proofreading errors, and I question whether including any of the truly terrible poetry written by amateur poets during the War added much of anything to the book.
It was a worthwhile read, thanks to the well-researched information and photographs.