Chapter 3: Who's Who on the Autograph Quilt

 Well, now you might be wondering just

how many autographs have we included 

on our quilt.

We actually have 259 signatures.

How many letters did we send out?

Well, at least double that, 500+

It wasn't too long after we started

that we realized we might have a problem

identifying some of the signatures that were returned.

?????

I tried to figure it out by the process of elimination

and thought I had it,  

until recently, when I actually looked online at

their signature and realized I was wrong.

So I'll do more sloughing through our

records to see if I can eventually figure it out.

(All 3 fabrics were signed the same)

In order not to have this happen again,

we began putting a small number on

the return envelope to correspond to our lists.

It came in handy several times.

David Copperfield,  Magician

We received many encouraging and lovely

note from signers.  I really appreciated

how these individuals honored our request

and took the time to include a personal  note.

Some letters were lengthy, others

 just a note on a post it, and others were humorous. 

American Actress, Comedian

Pete Seeger, 

American folk singers, political activists

Ice Cream Founders

The last block we had returned 

had been sent out over three years prior 

and over a year since we had sent out anymore.  

Where had that letter and fabric swatches sat for 3 years

is a mystery .

 

Mary Travers, Paul Stookey,  Peter Yarrow

American folk group

Who were some of my favorites

other than some I have shared already.

George Burns

American entertainer

Bob Hope

American Entertainer, 

Child Actress, Ambassador to Ghana

Luciano Pavarotti, Italian Operatic Tenor

Dr. Benjamin Spock

American Pediatrcian 

Jane Goodall

Known for her study of Chimpanzees, Conservation

and Animal Welfare

Ken Burns

American Filmmaker

Dick Clark

Host of American Band Stand 

1956-1989

Fred Rogers

Host of a Children's TV series

Chuck Yeager, American Test Pilot, 

who broke the sound barrier. 

He passed this last week, age 97

John Travolta,

 American Actor, Singer and Dancer

Ruth Handler

Do you know who she is?

Ruth Handler was an American businesswoman and inventor.  She served as the 

president of the toy manufacturer Mattel Inc.  In 1959 she invented the Barbie doll, which

sold over a billion copies world wide.

I could go on and on with names

Bill Gates

Martha Stewart

Susan Love

Jackie Joyner Kersee

Madeline Albright

Robin Williams

Jerry Lewis

Diane Sawyer

Bob Woodward

Mike Wallace

Ann Landers

Woody Allen

Carrie Fisher 

 Dick Van Dyke 

Milton Berle

and Angela Langsbury

Every time I look at

the quilt top, I'm in awe all over again.

****

I hope you'll stay tuned for Chapter 4.

"It's a quilt top, now what?"

Until Next Time-

Kyle

Chapter 2: Autographs, The Details

Chapter 2

I was excited to see that so many of you

were interested in our

 3 year autograph quilt project.

1994-1996

Our daughters rallied to the 

idea and as names and people continued

to come to light, 

they would send out more requests.

Collecting autographs of celebrities

isn't any thing new.

There are many popular categories.

Presidents

George Bush

Military

General Norman Schwarzkoph

General Colin Powell

4 Star General, Politician, Diplomat  

Athletes

Larry Bird

Basketball player

Billy Jean King

tennis player

Movie Stars

Robert Redford

Geena Davis 

Television Stars

Carol Burnett

Captain Kangaroo
American Children's TV show 1955 - 1984

Artists

Mary Engelbreit

Maya Lin

Architect and Sculptor 

designed the Vietnam War Memorial

Social and Religious Leaders

Gloria Steinem

spokeswoman for the feminist movement

Jesse L. Jackson

American Civil Rights Activist

Scientists

Dr. Gertrude Elion

American Biochemist, Noble Prize 1988 in Medicine

Carl Sagan

Astronomer

Politicians

Ted Kennedy

Sandra Day O'Connor

Supreme Court Justice, 1981 -2006

Astronauts

John Glenn

Sally Ride

First Woman to fly in space

Vocalists

Aretha Franklin

Neil Diamond

Authors

Children's Authors

Author and Humorist

Influential Women

Julia Child

Ruth Baden Ginsburg

Supreme Court Justice  1993 -2020

Liz Claiborne
American Fashion Designer and Business Woman 

Local celebrities

Thomas Sutherland, Dean of Agriculture at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, was kidnapped by Islamic Jihad members near his Beirut home on June 9, 1985. He was released on November 18, 1991 at the same time as Terry Waite, having been held hostage for 2,353 days.

Anne Dal Vera

Explorer

1992 lead the first all female team to cross Antarctica to the South Pole

without dogs or motorized vehicles

*****

One of the big questions is:

Are these signatures authentic?

There is actually no way of knowing

for sure other than if we had seen them

being signed in person.

Many celebrities use a rubber stamp.

Julie Andrews

Actress and Singer

Maya Angelou

American Poet

Clint Black

American Singer-Songwriter, Country music

Another means of signing a person's name 

is with an autopen which is a robotic machine.

First  woman to hold Secretary of Commerce, cabinet position

under President Carter, an American Economist 

Some celebrities authorize secretaries to sign

or another trusted person.

Big Bird

Bugs Bunny

And many sign with a few simple strokes.

Jay Leno

Comedian/ Late Night Talk Show Host

On a few occasions the person from whom

we requested an autograph signed the 

backing paper rather than the fabric.  

In that case, and in a couple other situations,

 the signature was copied

 onto a heat transfer paper

and applied to the fabric.  

My thoughts were that we weren't selling

the signatures or the quilt. The project  

was for our own personal use and I believed it was okay

for that to be done.

One signature that I wanted to include was

Mother Theresa's.  She had sent her name on

a card and I wanted to include her name, of course,

because her very important contributions.

She died a year after we finished collecting.

 Who didn't sign

We had many rejects.

For some we were never able to

find a reliable mailing address.  Some

of them were returned as undeliverable

and others, 

I believe, were simply disposed into

someone's circular file.

Many of them were returned with a note

and an explanation as to why someone

was not able to fulfill our request.

Our first denial was from Charles Schultz

and we were very disappointed. 

Here are a few other letters that we received.

Notice the dates.
American Chemist, Biochemist,  the importance of Vitamin C

A note from the White House

The reject letters added a wonderful chapter 

to our story as well.

So here's the question:

If you could think back to 1994 -1996

who would you have wanted to include in the quilt?

Next time I'll share some great stories

around some of the signatures and then who 

were some our favorites.

Here are a couple others

that you were interested in seeing. 

Roy Rogers

Singer and Cowboy

Gene Autry

Singer , Cowboy

Hopefully, you'll stay tuned for the rest of the story.

Radio Broadcaster

Famous for "the Rest of the Story"

Until Next Time-

Kyle