Winner takes home quilt honoring World War I veterans

Wendy Lauen of McHenry is this year's winner of Heritage Quilters' "Forever Poppies" quilt. Bo McConnell, a relative of the World War I veterans honored in the dedication, selected the winning ticket during the Nov. 7 afternoon quilt program.

Lauen is not a quilter like her mother-in-law, nor has she purchased a quilt raffle ticket in the past. Nevertheless, she was thrilled to have won and very appreciative of the colorful quilt's message of peace. The "rolling stone" pattern originated in 1780s New England.

It features a nine-patch with cream, several greens, and a showy black and red poppy fabric at the center.

The handsewn quilt, made by the McHenry County Historical Society's Heritage Quilters, was dedicated to Harold and Ethel (Jansen) McConnell of Woodstock. Ethel enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps in January 1918. Deployed later in that year, she was discharged in April 1918. Harold had enlisted in the U.S. National Guard as a private in Headquarters Troop, 33rd Division. He departed for France in May 1918 aboard the USS Mount Vernon. That ship later was torpedoed with loss of life, but it did make it back to port for repairs.

Harold served in the trenches of France and was subjected to gas attacks. He recovered but later fell ill during the Spanish flu pandemic that swept across the world. It was later calculated that this deadly flu killed 5 percent of the world's population. Harold survived and married Ethel in April 1920.

Work already is well underway on the 2019 raffle quilt. It features a selection of post Civil War-era reproduction fabrics fashioned into two blocks - an old favorite nine-patch, which was used widely in the 1800s - and a horizontal rectangle using a constant print. Strips of these blocks are set apart by a sashing of black, and a print fussy-cut to produce period visual interest.

For more information, visit www.gothistory.org.

Thanks to everyone who supported the historical society by buying a ticket.