All American Dad

Have I told you that I have an All American Dad?  He is the best Dab in the world!  I know I put a 'b' in Dad.  Its an old endearment going back to an error in a 4th grade art project.  So why is Dad an All American Dad?  Partly because he was born on the 5th of July, partly because he throws a huge picnic on the 4th each year, and partly because he loves flags especiall large ones.  He has a great collection that we have to display on the 4th.  Oh yeah he owns a firetruck too.  Wierd huh?


So way back when I was an active quilter in the 90's I spent three years creating a series of quilts for my Dad's almost patriotic birthday.  I called it the All American Dad series of course.

First was a pieced and appliqued wall quilt (have I told you I hate applique?)  I even did decorative stiching around the pieces.  It is supposed to represent my Dad's love of fireworks and his love of creating things for his family.  I embroidered the words "To the Best Dab, his hands create wonders for those he loves."  Of course the appliqued figure was to represent my Dad, salt and pepper hair and all.

I even did fancy handmade labels back then.  As you can see it was 1993 and dad was turning 50!  Love those Pigma pens.








The next year I was thinking about family and the Westinghouse legacy.  My Dad was a third generation Westinghouse employee.  So I made a quilt that reflected that as well as family.  Did I mention the 4th picnic started out as mostly Westinghouse families?

I used some wonderful reproduction fabrics in this from the Smithsonian line.  I also made my first stars which I fell in love with.  I appliques the circle W for Westinghouse. 

Then I quilted my Dad's, Grandfather's and Great Grandfather's names on the border.

A tag of course.

The third in the series is in the previous post.

:o) keep dreaming...Colleen