San Diego Quilt Show, 5-7 September 2013 (booth 635)
This was the first public showing for my quilts beyond a small (100 person) gathering of veterans from my hometown area of WNY. And the quilts were not even finished for that event yet! See more information on the San Diego Quilts Show here.
I can say that it has been truly an honor having this quilt show motivate me into completing the quilting, binding, more quilting, hunting down final patches so that I could finally have people enjoy this collection and work of art in great numbers here in San Diego.
It was an honor having people come up to my booth and telling me that "We came to the show just to see your quilts!" I had two ladies ask me which patch was the 44th Infantry Division patch on Friday and I pointed it out to them so that they could take photos of it--their father's served in that unit during WW2. I also had two wonderful Japanese ladies ask, "Do you have 442?" I replied, "Yes!" The 442nd Infantry Regiment was notably an all-Japanese descent Infantry Regiment for the United States Army and fought primarily in Europe during WW2. If you watch the original "Karate Kid" movie, you will notice that Mr. Miyagi had this insignia on his uniform. There were dozens of other stories like this with the Americal Division, 24th Infantry Division (ID), 8th and 13th Air Force, Civil Defense, 100th ID, 101st ID, medics, nurses, 1st/2nd/3rd Marine Divisions, and so many Sailors from San Diego.
I had the privilege of telling stories and informing hundreds upon hundreds of people at the show about the various units of the Armed Forces during WW2. 8 years of dedication and hard work are now starting to pay off, and San Diego was truly the start of this, so "thank you!"
I can say that it has been truly an honor having this quilt show motivate me into completing the quilting, binding, more quilting, hunting down final patches so that I could finally have people enjoy this collection and work of art in great numbers here in San Diego.
It was an honor having people come up to my booth and telling me that "We came to the show just to see your quilts!" I had two ladies ask me which patch was the 44th Infantry Division patch on Friday and I pointed it out to them so that they could take photos of it--their father's served in that unit during WW2. I also had two wonderful Japanese ladies ask, "Do you have 442?" I replied, "Yes!" The 442nd Infantry Regiment was notably an all-Japanese descent Infantry Regiment for the United States Army and fought primarily in Europe during WW2. If you watch the original "Karate Kid" movie, you will notice that Mr. Miyagi had this insignia on his uniform. There were dozens of other stories like this with the Americal Division, 24th Infantry Division (ID), 8th and 13th Air Force, Civil Defense, 100th ID, 101st ID, medics, nurses, 1st/2nd/3rd Marine Divisions, and so many Sailors from San Diego.
I had the privilege of telling stories and informing hundreds upon hundreds of people at the show about the various units of the Armed Forces during WW2. 8 years of dedication and hard work are now starting to pay off, and San Diego was truly the start of this, so "thank you!"
Media Coverage
Here is the story from UT San Diego by Tristan Nichols
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Here is the Channel 10 News San Diego Article by Natasha Zouves
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On September 11, 2013 The Quilt Show linked my quilts from the show, as seen here.
Quilts of Valor, from San Diego, has linked my quilts to their website.
Dozens upon dozens of quilting clubs and guilds have posted my quilts on their Facebook pages so it has been fun getting messages and seeing comments of "job well done" and "a labor of love" from around the world!!