The Republican Quilt Revisited

Hearing about the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy reminded me of a quilt story. Yes, that's right. I didn't make a quilt for Sen. Kennedy, but many years ago I made one for one of his nephews, Wm. Kennedy Smith. I wrote about it on my blog a few years ago. Enjoy!

Read here--> A Nixon Quilt for a Kennedy

I've Got Mail!

Look what I got in the mail the other day! My order from etsy shop: Home Studio....works of art by my talented brother and his wife. I love it! It's a Scrabble tile! I also got a silver chain with it. Many people look at it and ask if it's turquoise. I love turquoise and it goes well with many of my turquoise jewelry pieces. Check out their etsy shop and see all the other fun Scrabble tile jewelry: Home Studio.

And speaking of mail...

I was a little upset when I didn't receive my invitation to the recent Jenna Bush and Henry Hager wedding. It must of gotten lost in the mail. And they didn't even ask me to make a quilt!

About the closest "White House wedding" shin-dig I've ever been invited to was the Tricia Nixon Cox and Edward Cox 25th wedding anniversary. (Here they are at their Rose Garden wedding in 1971.)I did make them a quilt for their 25th Anniversary. Seems like just yesterday...Oh, my it was in 1996? How time flies! Here they are on that day at the Nixon Presidential Library in 1996.)

And here I am presenting a quilt for them. It's one of 3 "Republican" quilts I made. Why is it a Republican quilt? Well if you had read my blog last May, you would know. But if you weren't reading my blog then, you can read about it here: A Republican Quilt.

Below I am pictured on the right with Christopher Nixon Cox, Edward Cox and Tricia Nixon Cox. (notice I had to cut myself in half in the picture...it gives the illusion that I'm really thin!)

Side note: Where is Christopher Nixon Cox today? Read about him here: A Nixon Grandson. I really liked that boy. Ok, now he's 29. I told him once that if he were ever president, I would work for him!

Side note No. 2: Who is Tricia's sister Julie Nixon Eisenhower supporting in the upcoming election? You can find out here: A Nixon for ?

Ok, I'll forgive Jenna Bush and her husband this time. Maybe her twin sister Barbara will send me an invite when she gets married. I'll be checking my mailbox, Barbara!

Some Stories Are Worth Repeating.

Last May I wrote about A Republican Quilt for a Democrat. I want to repeat the story...or rather have you go back to that blog entry...for two reasons.

One: Yesterday was Richard Nixon's birthday. Two: With the Primary Elections going on, I thought you might enjoy the story.

What is a Republican Quilt for a Democrat? To find out, you must read the entire entry here.

Did you know if Pres. Nixon were still alive today, he would be 94? I was raised in 'Yorba Linda: Birthplace of Nixon.' I don't think many Yorba Lindans even say that anymore. Things changed after Watergate, you see. In my family though, my dad always said, 'Yorba Linda: Birthplace of Nixon.' (at right: a young Richard Nixon when he lived in Yorba Linda.)

Shortly after we moved to Yorba Linda, California Richard Nixon was running for President. He came through Yorba Linda as he campaigned and my dad took us to go see him. I was only 8, but I still remember the crowd, and my dad putting me up on his shoulders so I could get a glimpse of who my dad said would be, 'the next President of the United States.' Nixon won, as you know.

At right: Although this picture is how he looked as he campaigned in Pennsylvania, it's much like how I remember him.

Fast forward about 30 years and I still lived in Yorba Linda. I even bought my parents' home. Well, the year was 1995 and it was a year after Pres. Nixon died. I went into the gift shop at his Presidential Library to buy the Nixon commemorative stamp on the first day of issue. (I went through a phase of collecting stamps and baseball cards, too.)

Well from the first day I entered his Presidential Library, I decided I had to be part of it. So I gave tours and guided visitors for 7 years there. I learned a lot about Pres. Nixon. Mostly that he was a very complex man, who will be remembered for good and bad.

So, 'Happy Birthday Mr. President!'---oops! she wasn't singing to Nixon was she?

My favorite Richard Nixon quote: "Only if you have been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain. "

Sadly, his most famous quote is: "I am not a crook."

PS. Don't forget to enter my 'blogiversary' give-away here!

A Republican Quilt?

Yes. It's a Republican Quilt.


(Before I begin this story, let me stress that this blog is not meant to endorse any political party or affiliation...it's just a story.)


The quilt I call the Republican Quilt is the quilt that is on display at the Nixon Presidential Library and museum in Yorba Linda, California. It was on the bed where Pres. Nixon was born in 1913. He was born in Yorba Linda...the town where I have lived since I was 7. There at the birthplace house, located on the grounds of his Presidential Library, you can see the quilt. It was a family heirloom that was actually a wedding gift to his parents. It was made in the late 1800's by Quakers. On it you can see tiny little signatures of the people who gave them this Friendship quilt. (Note: if you're ever visiting Disneyland, the Nixon Library is only about 15 miles away...you really should make the trip and go see it.)

About this Republican Quilt...I have made 3 replicas of it.

The first one I made in 1996. I was a tour guide at the Nixon Library and it was the 25th wedding anniversary celebration of Tricia Nixon Cox and her husband Edward Cox. I got this great idea that all the volunteers there should give a replica of the quilt to the Cox's. It took me months to make it. I quilted it by hand. Over 150 signatures of the volunteers were printed on it. I was given the opportunity of presenting it to the Cox's at the anniversary celebration. Such an honor. (There was even a little blurb about it in Quilters Newsletter Magazine in 1996.)

The second one I made for Julie Nixon Eisenhower in 1997. I really like her. A very warm and genuine individual. I presented it to her on a day she was there at the museum visiting. I machine quilted it on my domestic home machine. Why did I make her one? Just because I like her, I guess. And you can't give one to one sister and not the other too!

The third one I made for a Kennedy. William Kennedy Smith. Wait a minute, you ask! A Kennedy? Yes. If his name sounds familiar, just do a GoogleSearch on him and you'll say, "Oh yes, one of the many notorious Kennedy cousins!"


A few years ago a friend of mine (who is a friend of Smith's) commissioned me to make that Republican Quilt for him. She thought it would be so funny. A Republican Quilt for a Democrat! A Nixon quilt for a Kennedy!


This one didn't take nearly as long as the others. 'Third time's the charm' I guess. It went together so much faster. And by then I had a longarm, so the quilting took hardly any time at all.


Apparently William Kennedy Smith loved the quilt. He even took it with him during an extended stay in Washington DC. He stayed at the Watergate apartments. A Kennedy sleeping under a Nixon quilt at the Watergate apartments. How's that for irony?

What is old?

According to an online dictionary one definition of OLD is: "of, pertaining to, or originating at an earlier period or date."

I watched some of the coverage of Queen Elizabeth II's visit to America. She stopped in Williamsburg, Jamestown, Richmond, among other historical places. Seeing the pictures of Colonial Williamsburg reminded me of a trip I took a few years ago there. I walked around the buildings and enjoyed the whole experience. I remember when I first arrived there I walked into the bookstore of the College of William and Mary. I purchased a sweatshirt that said "College of William and Mary, established 1693." I told the cashier as I made my purchase, "Wow! That's old! 1693? Where I live I think the oldest thing is the Richard Nixon birthplace house built in 1910!" (Note: I know this because I used to give tours at Nixon's presidential museum in Yorba Linda and I've lived in Yorba Linda since I was seven!) The girl asked where I was from and I said, "Southern California...near Disneyland." She just kinda rolled her eyes and said, "Oh." I wonder what was going on in her mind. Another silly Californian!

Another definition of OLD found in the online dictionary..."having lived or existed as specified with relation to younger or newer persons or things."

Yesterday was my birthday. I kinda forgot about it and when someone would say "Happy Birthday" I would go "Oh yeah, that's right. I forgot." It was a day like any other. I just quilted of course. I quilted a beautiful kimono quilt. Such a lovely collection of fabrics.

If you forget it's your birthday does that mean you can skip it? I guess age is a state of mind. I think I'm still a teenager, but then I have teenagers, so that's not right, is it? Today I go in for a mammogram. Yuck, that's a reminder of my real age!

"No one should take themselves so seriously...With many years ahead to fall in line...Why would you wish that on me, I'll never wanna act my age...What's my age again?...What's my age again?"

--Blink 182