CANADIAN RED CROSS QUILTS
1939-1945

…“Sie sind alle sehr gut erhalten. Auch ich bin interessiert daran und würde gern wissen, welche Hände an meinem Quilts gearbeitet haben. Denn man sieht, dass sie alle mit der Hand gequiltet worden sind.“ (Jutta von Petersdorff, 1996)

“What a touching gesture! Canadian women made thousands of quilts for the suffering population of war-torn Europe – even for their former enemies during WW II, Germany and Austria. The quilts warmed and comforted many during the harsh winters of the 1940s. Sadly, some of the quilts were forgotten in a freight wagon at the Vienna train station. They were found decades later during a clean-up. Mr. C. offered them for sale at an antique market at the Nockherberg. My assumption is that he didn’t know what a treasure he had, given that some of the quilts were in poor condition. Fortunately, Mrs. Christel T., one of the first quilters of the Munih area, discovered the quilts at the market. She convinced Mr. C. to offer the entire collection of quilts he stored in a born in Alling for sale. It was 1987. The Groebenzeller quilts jumped at the chance to purchase these special quilts. The quality varied greatly. Some were wholecloth quilts, with only 1 seam in the middle printed with flowers or checks. Others were real works of art. I bought an especially nice 9-patch of lovely fabrics. Unfortunately many of the colors faded over the years. All the quilts were made traditionally: the top of cotton, loose cotton as batting and cotton backing, hand-quilted.  The prices varied in the beginning. I paid 220 Marks for my nine-patch and 50 for plain ones. I own five of these historic quilts. I am grateful to own a bit of this peace offering. It would be wonderful if the descendants of the Canadian quilters hear that the work of their mothers, grandmothers or aunts still exists and is admired.”

Elisabeth Greil, Groebenzeller Quiltgruppe e-greil@groebenzeller-quiltgruppe.de

(Translation: Lisa Roehrl, Groebenzeller Quiltgruppe)

Wir bleiben dran an der Geschichte der Rot-Kreuz-Quilts aus Kanada. Wir haben Fotos von zwei besonders schönen und aufwendig gearbeiteten Quilts auf die Webseite des Kanadischen Roten Kreuzes gestellt.