Iraq Memorial Quilt
dedicated to fallen of Iraq & Afghanistan
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Iraq Memorial Quilt
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NO POLITICS, JUST FACES
First Pictoral Memorial in U.S. history
to honor the Fallen Heroes of a Military Conflict
Recognizing the faces of 3600 men & women
of the Military
who have died in line of service
in Iraq & Afghanistan
since GW Bush ordered troops into Iraq in March 2003.
Original Design by Cynthia C. Catlett
Date Began: 03/31/2007
Date Finished 06/14/2007
Total Time: 77 Days
Size: approx 88 inches wide, 99 inches length
(click on squares below to see Close-up of pictures on quilt)
This quilt was made with love and respect to honor the troops who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. There are no politics involved in this quilt. There are only pictures. Pictures of men and women who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan since GW Bush ordered our military into Iraq in March 2003. These are the faces of those who have served this country, those who have died for this country and the loved ones they left behind.
There are no politicians on this quilt. There are no words for or against our presence in Iraq. In fact there are no words at all on this quilt except those that are in the pictures on the quilt. It would have been easy to make this quilt about the politics behind Iraq. But that is not what this quilt is about or represents. This quilt is about real people, perhaps the best of this generation, who are no longer with us. This quilt is about honoring who they are so we will always remember that those lost are not just names on the news, names on a tombstone. These are the faces of the fallen for us to always remember.
The Story Behind the Quilt 
I call this God's Quilt because right from the very beginning it was apparent that there were forces involved much more powerful than myself. I wish I could take full credit for this beautiful quilt but I have to admit that I believe that my heavenly father was leading me in the construction of this quilt right from the start. .
I first got the idea to make a quilt from watching a segment on the 2007 $100,000 Quilting Challenge on theToday show back at the beginning of this year. Later that very same day, I accidentally stumbled across another website, called the "Faces of the Fallen" at WashingtonPost.com (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/)and thought how that would be a great inspiration for a quilt.
Hence the idea was born. We encourage you to visit their website (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/fallen/)
especially if you are looking for a specfic person
The pictures of the deceased men and women were gathered together and assembled into a spread sheet. It took several weeks to get this information together. I must admit that it was the hardest part of the entire project because I had to look at every face of every man and woman who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since GW Bush ordered our troops into Iraq in March 2003. It was a very moving and touching experience. Although I have never approved of Bush's invasion, I have always believed that no matter what our personal politics are, our military men and women should have whatever they need to get the job done and return 
home safe. I have to admit looking into these faces and looking at who they were, where they came from and how they died forever changed my attitude about this conflict. It was at this point that I decided that this quilt could not be about politics. I decided that this quilt must be about the men and women who will never come home to their loved ones again. I was determined to memorialize these valiant heroes for all time so that future generations could remember that these were
real people, moms and dad's, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, old and young,
who were cut down at their best but
will be forever remembered .
Each sheet of 100 faces was printed onto fabric using an inkjet printer. Each large square is made up of 9 smallers squares of 100 faces. There are currently 3600 faces of deceased vets on the quilt with the ability (UNFORTUNATELY) to add more. I got several helpful hints and tips regarding printing onto fabric from Martha Stewart's website (http://www.marthastewart.com/). I have to admit, without these helpful hints it would have been a lot harder.
At first I wasn't certain about what I was going to make the quilt out of. However, during the first stage of the quilt, I moved and for some reason I saved an old curtain, even though at that time, I had no use for it in mind. After the move, for some reason, I was inspired to make the quilt from the old curtain along with some red/white/blue striped cotton fabric I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby. I used the lining of the curtain to make the printed squares and the actual curtain material made a great backing for the quilt. I was actually amazed that despite the fact that there was no measuring involved in cutting of the fabric, it worked out to be the exact number of squares needed for the quilt. And when it came time to pin the backing to the quilt, again with no measurements being taken, it worked out to be exactly the right size both length and width needed. I was truly amazed at how everything in the construction of the quilt just fell into place without any measurements being taken. Just several examples of God's hand of grace in the making of this quilt.
This is the very first quilt I have ever made. I have always admired handmade quilts and one of my goals on my Life "To Do" List was to make a quilt. However, I never envisioned it would be this significant. I made this with no formal quilting instruction or special quilting equipment. The design of the quilt was all original. I am very pleased with the way the pictures all lined up to form on big square. Since each big square is made up of 9 smaller squares of faces, any accomplished seamtress will tell you lining up objects so they match is not an easy task. Ironically though, that was not the hardest part. The most difficult part of this quilt was attaching the roses and the yellow ribbons on the quilt. It really made me appreciated what quilters go through and understand why there were quilting parties.
After looking into over 3600 faces, I think it is important to point out that at least 95% of these men and women died as a result of an explosive device. In other words, they were just driving down a road and got blown up. They did not die as a result of some brave battle with the enemy.
This is not meant to dishonor those who have died or how they died. But it really makes you question if they had to die.
Did we do enough to demand they have what they needed to come home safe to their loved ones. If we really support the troops, wouldn't we do everything we could to demand that the government that decided to put them in harms way, do everything to protect them and bring them home safely.
I know looking at these faces changed my perspective.
Today we must do everything we can to prevent more people's sons and daughters from the same kind of fate.
IT CAN NO LONGER BE ENOUGH TO SAY SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! TODAY WE MUST SAVE OUR TROOPS!
CLICK HERE TO SEE LOCAL NEWS VIDEO ON KHOU CHANNEL 11 NEWS
CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEWS STORY
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