Quilt, Pieced World War II Motif

Dateca. 1945

MediumCottons

DimensionsOverall 80 3/4" H X 67" W Right side: 80 1/2" (204.5 cm.); bottom: 67" (170.2 cm.); Left side: 80 3/4" (205.1 cm.); top: 66 1/2" (168.9 cm.).

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1994.609.1

DescriptionThis is a rectangular quilt of pieced and appliqued cottons in red, white, and blue, with outline embroidery depicting religious verses and locations. The quilt has a white V in the center, with dots and dashes below, within a blue square and surrounded by red and white large patches. For the wording of the inscriptions, see Marks.
Label TextThis quilt is an example of a very personal statement on the part of the quiltmaker. It is covered with religious inscriptions and others identifying a soldier active in World War II and prayers for his safe return. Although she did not sign her work, the quilt maker may have been Kate Dunlap Clayton (Mrs. Hence Clayton), the mother of Dudley Clayton, whose name and military address are written prominently in outline stitches on the face of the quilt. Clayton served as a rifleman and earned two bronze stars for the Papua New Guinea campaigns; he was discharged in March 1945 and worked as an auto glass installer in Amarillo, Texas. He remained unmarried and died at age thirty-four from accidental asphyxiation. The motif of three dots and a dash below the central V is Morse Code for the letter V.
MarkingsAll inscriptions are worked in stem or outline stitch in embroidery thread. Most inscriptions are in script, but some are block letters. (These have not been distinquished here, since occasionally different kinds of lettering appears in the same word). In white thread in the upper red rectangle is "Pfc. Dudley C. Clayton 38080110/Co G 128th. Infantry/c/o Postmaster A.P.O. 32/San Francisco Calif." In white thread, below the preceding, in the upper section of the central blue square is "TRAINING CENTER/Address/Co. C. 82nd Inf. Bn./Camp Roberts/Cal." In red thread, on each of the two arms of the white "V" in the central blue square, is the word "Division". In white thread, in the red rectangle below the central blue square, is "Australia. New Guinea./Pacific Ocean". In white thread in the red rectangle to the left of the central blue square is "May Our dear Heavenly Father/watch over you day/ and night." In white thread in the red rectangle to the right of the central blue square is "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after/Righteousness for they shall be filled/ Blessed are the Merciful for they shall/ Obtain mercy./Matt 5-6-7". In red thread filling the white spaces surrounding the central design are, starting at top and moving clockwise: "Jesus our Righteousness and Peace" "But as many as received (sic)/Him to them gave he/Power to become the Sons/of God even to them/That believe on His name/St John 1-12" "And we Know that all/Things work together/for Good to them/that love God/to them who are/the called/according to/His PurPose/Rom 8-28" "But the Salvation of the/Righteous is of the Lord/He is their Strength/In the time of trouble/Psalms 37-39-40" The single next inscription is situated beside the immediately preceding one and separated from it by a vertical line embroidered in red thread: "And the Lord shall help them/And deliver/them from the wicked and/save them Because they trust/in Him" "God is our/Refuge and Strength/a very Present help/in trouble/Psalms 46-1" "For God so loved the world/That He gave His only begotten/Son that whosoever/ believeth in Him Should/Not perish but have everlasting life/John 3-16/Jesus the light/Of the world"
ProvenanceThe vendor, James E. Allen is said to have obtained the quilt from a woman in Texas.