Happy Fourth of July!
A long time ago I lived in Washington, DC for a year, and our quilt guild (Mt. Vernon, a chapter of Quilts Unlimited of Virginia) was pretty active. We met in the community center, next door to the Variety Store (which had great fabrics) and someone organized a tour to the Smithsonian quilt archives in the National History Museum.
They took us downstairs into a room with tons of these large, flat drawers, and a docent pulled them out one-by-one to show us these historical quilts. This was in the days before our phone cameras, which take great photos effortlessly, so many of my photos are sub-standard. But a few fun things stood out for me, from that tour.
Gloriously colored applique, using ombre-shaded fabrics.
The teensiest logs in this stellar Log Cabin quilt (the use of the plaids interspersed with solids and other plaids is brilliant, I think).
Stars that are each their own character.
And this quilt, which looked like it was English paper-pieced out of felt, but it was wool from Civil War uniforms, carefully cut and pieced, and made by a soldier.
Celebrate!!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
What beautiful quilts Elizabeth! Thank you for sharing them with us! Enjoy your special day!
Oh my, but those quilts are beautiful. The flag made from the wool uniforms is stunning. It looks like it’s new, too. Thank you for sharing your photos and memories with us!
What a treat–for you then and for us today–thanks so much for sharing!! Hope you enjoy a great Fourth🇺🇸🗽
Wow–what a great opportunity you had, to see these quilts! Each one is gorgeous and moving.
Thank you for sharing!
This makes me want to paper piece a quilt with wool! Happy 4th Elizabeth!
Happy Independence Day!
What interesting quilts and choice of fabrics. Naive me, I didn’t realize ombre prints are so old. I was very moved by that quilt by the Civil War veteran, what a close call for our country. When I was a little girl I asked my parents what side our families had favored. They explained that that our families had not yet moved to the United States at that time. I repeated my question because it seemed to me, even at that young age, that all eyes must have been on America and what it could become. The great political and cultural experiment continues.
Thank you for sharing your photos. The quilts are spectacular and I like that they are older and unique. I will count this as a tour of the vaults, as I will probably not get the chance to see them. You were so lucky.
Thank you Elizabeth, The photos showed great detail and the quilt top done by the civil war soldier, because it had been done a a soldier ,it moved me greatly,again thank you for sharing and a happy 4th. To you and family 🇺🇸
What a great experience you enjoyed. I LOVE that Log Cabin! Wow. Hope you had a terrific 4th.