The Birthday Quilt

Here it is, the finished birthday quilt! Clearly recongnizable as the Chicago city flag made for a very special little Chicagoan boy!

The Chicago flag embodies some pretty heavy symbolism. Each of the three white horizontal stripes of the flag represent the North, West, and South sides of the city.

Each of the four, six pointed stars represent an historical event pivitol to the life of the city, with each of the six points representing an important charachteristic or history important to the City and it's people:

The first star stands for Fort Dearborn, the six points representing transportation, labor, commerce, finance, populousness, and salubrity.

The second star stands for the Great Chicago Fire, the six points representing religion, education, esthetics, justice, beneficience, and civic pride.

The third star stands for the World's Columbian Exhibition of 1893, the six points representing the great history of this area, France 1693, Great Britain 1763, Virginia 1778, Northwest Territory 1798, Indian Territory 1802, and Illinois Statehood on December 3, 1818.

The fourth star stands for the Century of Progress Exhibition of 1933, the six points representing Chicago as the world's third largest city in 1933, the City's Latin motto, "I WILL" motto, the great central market, the wonder city, and the convention city.

The two blue stripes of the flag represent the landmark water features of the city; the top stripe stands for Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River, and the bottom stripe represents the South Branch of the Chicago River and the Great Canal.



All in all, a pretty awesome way to cuddle up. Here's the back, I used a bright stripe. Looks absolutely crazy with the quilting, but I like it.

The final measurements are 30" x 40", and I used all cotton for this quilt, including a thick cotton flannel fabric inside. Since it is smallish, I wanted it to stay plenty flexible but still have some body to it. My tot gave it the hug test, and said it was good and cuddly. Hope it's new owner thinks so, too!