1st Infantry Division Memorial Quilt: The Blog

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The development of the Quilt

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This is a short chronicle of how the quilt came to be put together by SGT Smith.

April 2004 was the birth of this quilt. I started by placing the blocks into a pattern. This took about 5 days and a lot of trial and error to get the final design. This is what it looked like when I started.

I used a queen size bed sheet for the border, and the back is a sheet that was issued to me when I was stationed at Ft Hood, Tx with the 16th Sig Bn in 1995. This sheet was laid out at the Tikrit Fob Danger MWR Sports Bar, for about 4 months. Many soldiers passing thru signed it.

This when I was sewing some of the patches onto the front of the quilt. A few of them are sewn on by hand. The units were really great in giving up their patches. A few are actually combat patches. Meaning the soldiers took them off The uniform they were wearing.

Here are a few of the patches that were given in support of the making of the quilt.

This is a close up of some of the signatures on the back of the quilt.

This is the center. I chose the backwards flag because we are in a combat zone. And we wear the flag backwards to represent that we are running into battle not away. The 1st Infantry Division patch because it is dedicated to the 1st Infantry Division. The Iraq Flag because we are in Iraq. And the Red Cross patch because they are vital to the armed forces not just in Iraq but all over the world.

This is the sewing the last part of the batting, and a partial closing.

Turning the quilt right side out.

The closing of the final corner of the quilt.

This is the corner in which I signed. It reads, Made by SGT Nicole S. Smith, HHC 121 Sig Bn, Fob:Danger, Tikrit Iraq, Started April 2004

The completed front and back of the quilt. Left to Right: SGT Smith Maker of the quilt, SGT Walters the Public Affairs photographer.

The Governor of Tikrit signing the quilt, COL Dragon and SGT Smith.

The governor of Dyala signing the quilt.

LTC looking over my shoulder while write in what organization he is with.

Billie Blanks signing the quilt. His Daughter signed it as well. In the block diagonally to where he signed.

This is the MWR building on FOB Danger, Tikrit Iraq. This is the building where the quilt was made.

This is the bombed out palace on FOB: Danger, Tikrit Iraq.

This picture was taken in Kuwait, The day we left on convoy to Iraq.

V CORPs quilt article

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There is an excellent additional story on the V CORPs web site about the quilt.

SGT Smith's Text from the GeoCities site

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(Pictures will be posted later)

My name is SGT Nicole Smith, currently serving in Iraq with the 1st Infantry Division.

This quilt was started in April 2004 and completed September 2004. Made in dedication to Operation Iraqi Freedom II and the 1st Infantry Division. There are 100+ squares embroidered with the units that have served with the 1st Infantry Division during OIF II 2004 thru 2005. Many of the blocks have signatures of senior ranking officers and the senior NCOs. To include three of the top Generals of the division and the Command Sergeant Major. The back of the quilt is a sheet that has been signed by many soldiers that traveled thru the area. The center is stuffed with 100% cotton, sewn into 2 queen size sheets. The quilt measures 7'x7'.

The proceeds from this quilt will go to the 1St Infantry Division Foundation. The foundation is there to assist the children of fallen soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division. Currently their are 48 children that qualify for a educational assistance. To learn more about the foundation check out their message board.

You can view the eBay sale site by typing this number(2278625815) into the eBay search block.

Links

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Explanation of our links:

The GeoCities Page for the Quilt

The Society of the First Infantry Division: This is the veteran's organization that is the oversite group for the charity that the proceeds from the sale of the quilt will go to.

The First Infantry Division Foundation: A charitable organization whose sole purpose is to provide for the education of the children of 1st Infantry Division soldiers that are killed in combat.

MissionFish: A non-profit organization that helps people donate the proceeds from eBay auctions directly to a charitable organization.

eBay: The online auction site that is hosting the sale of the quilt.

The Official 1st Infantry Division Page: The US Army site of the 1st Infantry Division.

Disclaimer

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I am Staff Sergeant Kevin Robertson. I am the creator/administrator of this blog. I am, merely, a co-worker of the creator of the quilt. This blog is designed to act as an information center for the quilt created by Sergeant Nicole Smith. Any problems with the use of this blog are not the responsibility of SGT Smith.

The template for this blog was created by "Spanky Jewels". Blogger is used to administer this blog. Imageshack is used to host the images. NVNCBL is the service that provides the tagboard. Statcounter.com provides our free counter. Links for all of these services are provided in the sidebar to the left.

My blog is Fixing A Hole, and the post on my blog about the quilt is here. If you experience any problems using this blog, please email me here.