gwenzie

I am going to try to tackle a Military Quilt. If any of you members have made one or have any ideas on how I can do this, please share. If you have any pictures, please share with me. I just lost my son-in-law, this week. My daughter as me if I would make the children a quilt using his uniforms. I will have to make 3. The children are very young ages 5, 3, and 1. She wants them to have this keepsake from his military clothes. Any pictures and ideas would be most appreciated. I don't know where to start, don't know size yet probably a nice size lap quilt, I am just in the thinking stages, I am not even planning, I will put all of my information together then start planning.
Thanks so much.

Aria

I'm so sorry to hear this! You can google "images" under patriotic quilts. There are a lot of pictures! You can cut up the fabric and use it in any block, though I would think the fabric would be heavy, and you'd need to make big blocks, rather than small ones, as the seams would be too bulky. You could also have pictures of him printed on fabric and use them as the center of some blocks... OR, you could have a large picture of him printed and use it as the main block in the center. I wish all the best for you and your daughter's family.
Gerry in Mn.

amyjo

So sorry for your loss. God Bless him for his service to our country. I would make a graph of what size you want to make with design if you are making around the world or diagonal. Then cut your squares. I wouldn't use the seam area. We are always here if you need help. God Bless your family at this time of need. Amy

NanaCsews2

I am so sorry for your loss. Fighting back a hard cry as I write this. Our family is so fortunate that my brother was able to come back safely after 3 tours. I made him a quilt and was able to present it to him personally. I debated about what to do for him, as it was the biggest challenge I have ever taken on when quilting. I can understand the challenge you are facing.
What I did was think about everything He as the soldier means to me. I perused Quilters Cache looking for blocks that were fitting to his beliefs and what the soldier represents. I ended up using several blocks incorporated in the quilt. It was my own design, although there are several very good ones out there. I placed the blocks around a formation of a cross using patriotic fabrics. There are guidelines when doing a Quilt of Valor, and here is the link: http://www.qovf.org/content/basic-qov-requirements.html. This might be a good place for you to start your planning. I did not follow all the guidelines, as I was presenting this to my brother in person. I did not go through the organization, but to me it is a Quilt of Valor.
A few of the many blocks I used are: A Soldier's Walk, Army Star, Honor and Courage, Sunshine and Shadows, Peace and Plenty, Our Country, Hearth and Home, Family Circle, Amerihearts at Home, Military Army Star, and God's Eye. It was a big undertaking, and it had a lot of work within the quilt. I used red, white, blue, and gold fabrics, but any one of these blocks could be made with military fabrics.
What I would do is keep it simple, yet reflect the soldier your son in law was.
I will keep your family in my prayers.

cashmommy11

So sorry to hear this. praying for your family .hugs to you all from a new Army mom. my son leaves in 45 days...

bunniequilter

As a military Mom, my heart goes out to you and your family.

EIQuilter

Here's a video that discusses a quilt made from military uniforms: http://video.wpt2.org/video/2276346141/

Also, if you Google for military uniform quilts, you'll get a lot of sites to visit for examples. I looked for one from a couple who was making quilts for highway patrolmen or other law enforcement officials, but I couldn't find that - try Googling Highway Patrol Uniform Quilts and you might find some good ideas there.

Traditional Quilter

I, too, am a military Mom and I heart goes out to you, your daughter and grandchildren. I am so sorry to hear of your loss. I am finishing up a quilt that I made for my son's retirement from the Marine Corps. I didn't use any military fabric, but perhaps what I did will give you some inspiration to incorporate with your own ideas. I'm sorry I tried to attach a photo, but apparently my photo is too large to attach and I'm such a dinosaur when dealing with photos on the computer that I can't figure out how to resize it. I can do it using the email function (it does it automatically) so if you would send me a private message with your email, I'll be happy to forward it to you. I don't know how to do that either but I sent it to another lady who is making a quilt for her brother.

I found a stencil on line for the Marine Corps" eagle, globe and anchor. You can find these stencils for other branches of service -- just google "military stencils." I drew it out on paper and took to Staples to enlarge. From that I made applique patterns which I in essence replicated the Marine logo. The rope around the logo I hand embroideried. This was applied to a white background with crossed swords (enlisted and officers') appliqued so that they looked to be behind the logo, and then a 2" blue, a 1-1/2" red border, another 2" blue border, and then a 6-1/2" white border. I hand embroideried the three verses of the Marine Hymn around the logo (white on white), and then in blue, around the edge of the border. I embroideried each assignment and location, and in the top white border I wrote in trapunto his rank and the emblem of his rank, in the bottom border I put his name in trapunto. On the side borders I put in trapunto various Marine slogans -- OORAH, Devil Dogs, etc. If your son-in-law was a Marine, I would strongly suggest that you make sure the red "blood" stripe is included. That's what my blue and red borders represent. The red stripe for enlisted is 1-1/4 inch and for officers it is 1-1/2 inch. I am now hand quilting the borders and hope to finish before by summer's end.

I did a lot of research on line, studied a lot of photos on line, went to the Marine Museum and looked for ideas and, of course, my daughter-in-law was very helpful. It's amazing how just looking through the military websites help. Sometimes the most insignificant bit of info or photo will spark the most wonderful idea. What was his MOS? Where was he stationed? Was he married during his service? Were the children born while he was in service? Do you want to incorporate those events?

My original thoughts were along the line of a Baltimore Album quilt with each block depicting the major events in his career -- his marriage -- birth of children -- various places he lived and worked -- tours of duty in Iraq -- etc. However, my ideas and my capabilities didn't coincide so I chose to make my quilt simplistic in design.

I hope you gain some ideas from this. I cannot give any suggestions specifically on how to use his uniform fabrics, but I know with time you will be able to come up with the right pattern. My best to your family. I am here if you have any questions.

coopah

Just want to say thank you for helping your daughter through an excruciating time and making meaningful memory quilts for the children. I have no idea how to proceed...but the suggestions so far have sounded right on. Good luck to you on this project and may God place people in your family's lives that will help guide you through the valleys.

Jan in VA

I'm so sorry. I can not even imagine how your daughter is feeling, with three little ones to nurture on her own. The precious quilts you make will help her keep their daddy alive in their hearts. God go with you, Grandma, while you design and sew.

Jan in VA