This beautiful quilt top is know as a strip quilt. It uses strips of left over fabric to make the top. The beauty of this quilt is that the center strips are all made of the same material. When you look closely you can see that the center strips make a "V".
During WWII the V was for victory. Our Nation banded together and saved as much as it could to help support our troops. Wonderful propaganda posters came out, declaring to plant gardens and to keep chickens. Another lesson learned by those that make Victory Quilts was thrift. Those women and men knew how to save everything that
was useful.
Quilts made during the Great Depression and WWII were often parts of other quilts. If a blanket was worn down it became the middle of another blanket. If a skirt, shirt or pair of pants became so worn that it served no purpose it became a strip of quilt. Being thrifty served two purposes. One it was patriotic, Uncle Sam needed everything for the boys at war. Two it helped our nation survive the Great Depression.
How was all of the great knowledge gained? A wonderful woman now gone to the other side, Mae. Everyone called her grandma, for she adopted everyone that needed love. A woman who, although was blind, insisted that she keep sewing strip quilt tops to help others. Most of her tops were donated to a local church quilting group, finished then given to those in need.
What can we learn from all of this?
Be thrifty, it can make wonderful history.
Learn something from an older generation. You never know what you will learn.
