Sweet Land of Liberty

My mini for the month of July

came about as

a combination of genealogy and

a quilt group challenge.

Sweet Land of Liberty
32" x 32"

The quilt challenge was to make a monogram quilt.
Use your initials however you want.
A letter could be represented by a color,
a pattern, a type of fabric or an idea., etc.

My initials are K,E,R.

Here's what I was including in my quilt.

K = kinship, relationships based on family ties

E =  the American eagle, representing strength, dignity, freedom

R = remembrance, honoring those who came before me


A couple of years ago, my daughter and I
became interested in finding out more about our family linage.
I have a cousin who had done some extensive research
and Ancestry.com definitely helps you get access to records
that would be difficult otherwise.

Through our research we found
our kinship to many relatives who were Patriots of
the American Revolution.
April 19, 1775 - September 3, 1783

I began with the 

center of my quilt and reduced the size 

of an Eagle from one of the many 

 Lori Smith's patterns I have.

From My Heart to Your Hands.

It's there in the center representing 

the national emblem of the United States.

With the genealogical work we had done

the first Patriot we discovered was 

Simeon Wheelock, 

my 5th Great Grandfather.

Simeon and his wife, Deborah Thayer Wheelock

lived in Uxbridge, MA with their 8 children

in this home built in 1768 and is still used today by

the Deborah Wheelock chapter of the DAR .

photo By Kenneth C. Zirkel - Own work,

Simeon was a blacksmith by trade and 

was involved in many resistant activities leading up 

to that first confrontation at Lexington and Concord.

Simeon along with 3 of his brothers,

Caleb, Calvin and Luther, and their father,

answered the alarm on

April 19, 1775

and were part of the civilian militia 

that marched to that first military engagement.

Those 5 men from the Wheelock family

along with 14 other members

of different family units

all are recognized Patriots

in their willingness to sacrifice their

lives to gain independence from Britain. 

This quilt was made in remembrance of

those men and their wives and families, 

my grandfathers, uncles, grandmothers,

who participated in the events and battles

of the American Revolution.

They are not the famous Patriots

who you read about in the history books.

They were regular folks

concerned about their families,

their lives, their livelihoods, along with

their rights to 

happiness, justice, and equality.

This is a quilt I have been wanting to 

design and make for quite a while.

I was inspired by Barbara of 

Quilts, Gravestone, and Other Elusive Ancestors

by her ability to incorporate genealogy into her quilts.

Thanks, Barbara.

It's been a couple months since I 

actually made a monthly mini, and

I'm linking this to Wendy's blog

The Constant Quilter

so you can see what others

have been creating.

Until Next Time-
Kyle