Labors of Love

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Having just completed a sampler to commemorate son David's service in the United States Coast Guard, I was faced with the obligation to create another for son Dennis who served with the United States Army. When I listened to my sons discuss the completion of David's sampler while they were both home on leave, I knew it was not going to be an easy task. The competition rang out loud and clear between them; Dennis did not want his sampler to look like his brother's.

I thought that David's first ten years in the military was a proud achievement in itself and needed to be recognized in some way that would last forever. Stitching embroidered samplers had become quite popular among my friends, so I decided to stitch one for him to commemorate his tenth year with the United States Coast Guard. Having a new design program for the computer did contribute to my enthusiasm and my admiration for David's work spurred me forward along with my close ties to the sea. Many weeks were spent working a design to ultimately tell the story in stitchery of his career. This in itself was not an easy task. As a matter of fact, for me it was the most difficult part and had to be planned out and orchestrated in such a way that it would be appealing to the eye as well as tell a story.

David's sampler had been fairly easy to stitch, even though it took many months to finish long after the basic design was created. It was divided into seven segments of Coast Guard duty stations with scenes stitched to match his memories between two rows of Coast Guard Flags. These segments covered the ten year period of time. One of the most difficult tasks was determining which stitches to use for the 26 Coast Guard flags bordering the sides, which I decided to make different in each flag. After confusing myself by looking at too many options in several needlepoint books, I finally started to get my act together when an intelligent friend recommended using a single source of information instead of the whole library. The search for the right charts of motifs, (fish, buoy, anchor and propellers) were easy enough to come by with the support of my stitching friends who shared their stash's. Aside from planning the actual layout, there were only three designs that I had to chart myself and two that had to be modified to fit.

Eventually I purchased a large piece of white Cashel linen and set off to work on it. I left sufficient room at the top and immediately started counting off threads for the Coast Guard Flags to border the sides. A hundred and twenty-some threads later, I knew how wide each segment needed to be, and was impressed that it matched my computer design. When David came to visit and saw the sampler in progress, he was ecstatic and eager to help with ideas. When I reached the difficult chore of adding designs for his tour of duty in Tennessee, he immediately started sketching diagrams to represent the mileage markers along the Mississippi River. To my own astonishment, his drawings allowed me to produce a stitched scene to represent these Aids to Navigation. His tour in Galveston was done in basically the same manner because I could not locate a charted design for the smaller lighthouse. Fortunately, even though I had worked a number of months on his project, there was still time for him to sketch a Search and Rescue Boat for me before he transferred from Galveston to California which was later stitched in the final segment. It was important to me that the design in each segment would have significant meaning to David. For example, the fish that jumps out of the Alaskan waters represents the large Halibut that he caught while out at sea one day. The airplane represents his arrival and the floating buoy represents his work. Because much of his work was in the area of the Golden Gate Bridge while he was in California, I decided to include the bridge along with the rescue boat.

In the end, the sampler had to be shipped to California upon its completion. By coincidence, the Embroiderers' Guild of America, of which I am a member, was having their national seminar there and I was invited to have the sampler exhibited. I eagerly accepted the opportunity and David retrieved his sampler when the seminar was over. The following year, I was able to visit David in California and shortly after my arrival, he brought the sampler out to show me. He had kept it wrapped in its packaging from the exhibit until it could be preserved in Plexi-glass for display in his home. I realized then how much my project meant to him and we took the sampler to a nearby finishing and framing business inasmuch as I had no tools with me. (Needle arts are not exhibited with glass or Plexi-glass.) David's finished sampler measured 14-inches by 36-inches.

In the meantime, there was Dennis who had seen David's sampler just before its completion. "I want you to make me one," he announced. After assuring him that I would, he informed me that he didn't want the theme to be the same as David's. His comment led to their round table discussion. Of course at first, I was rather aggravated, not understanding exactly what he wanted me to do. The more I listened to them, the clearer the difference between the two military services became. Where David's job was to support Aids to Navigation and Search and Rescue efforts, Dennis' was to protect the country. One was just as important as the other was, but the fact was that both men were equally proud of their achievements. Their samplers needed to be reminiscent of their own time and efforts for their individual branches of military service. But how was I to set upon the task of designing a sampler incorporating designs of which I knew nothing: military emblems, awards and achievements. Never did I think that it would drag on for as long as it did!

Like David, Dennis was eager to help, and he provided sketches of what he thought would be a nice layout for the emblems, badges and awards that he wanted included. Part of the problem was finding charts for what he was asking, but the major problem was in design and layout. (Trust me, an artist he was not!) Literally, I had no idea where to start. I began by cutting a 20-inch wide piece of 28-count Cashel linen from a 60-inch wide bolt, thinking that surely 60-inches in length would be long enough. Step two was to run basting threads to determine the actual width I would stitch, and step three was to secure it to roller bars. Well, the easy part was done. The hard part, locating the charts, was soon to begin.

He wanted an American eagle at the top of the sampler. It would show strength he said, and the eagle is a symbol of America. I searched for charts of eagles, none of which met with his approval. Desperate to get the show on the road, I finally picked an eagle I thought would work, said nothing to Dennis and started stitching. By the time I paid him a visit at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, I had completed the eagle, a grouping of four states showing his first duty stations surrounding my own adaptation of the Expert Infantrymen's Badge, and the first five of his Rank Insignia Badges. I could tell by the expression on his face that he was delighted when he saw it. Then I showed him my charted version of what else I planned to stitch on the sampler. "No, no" he said, as he tossed out the helicopter, the boots, the soldiers, and the helmet. "Keep it clean, Mom. Stay with the insignias!" And with that, he handed me a box that contained an extra set of all his badges, pins, medals, insignias, and ribbons and said, "Here is what I want on the sampler."

The search for a chart of his Air Assault Badge led me to Alabama Needle Arts in Enterprise, Alabama. With slight modifications to their suggested threads, I started stitching again. My next problem was Egypt and Korea and representing Dennis' tours in both countries. In exasperation, I finally decided just to stitch the names of the countries on each side of the Air Assault Badge and add the dates of service beneath the names. Then came the real challenge: charting out replicas of his Marksman Badges and Driver Award, for which I could find no charts. Many weeks later, I added two more insignias of rank. To my surprise, when I finally had most of it charted out on the computer, the sampler started taking shape. I had finally achieved the effect I wanted with segments of his career, and I could put needle and thread to work again.

The next part was to include his Drill Instructor Badge. That chart also came from Alabama Needle Arts. It was easy enough to add to the computer layout and start stitching. But, there was a problem. It stood out all by itself, and for the next several months; I searched endlessly for ways to solve that particular design problem. Nonetheless, I moved on to the next grouping of four states and quickly filled in those states to match the others, using a basketweave stitch done in Camouflage Green Silk'N Colors from The Thread Gatherer. Between the states, I placed his Color Bar Ribbons, satin stitched with bright colors in China Silk.

The worst nightmare of all was the final segment, which was to highlight his Recruiter's Badge that he was insistent on having on the sampler. "If only I had finished this sooner," I thought. "He would have still been stationed at Fort Campbell and the Recruiter's Badge wouldn't have been needed. Worse yet, I could not find a chart for the correct Recruiter's Badge. Weeks and weeks went by as I searched for a solution. Then suddenly it occurred to me to look on the Internet. To my surprise, not only did I find a history of the badge and a picture, but also a new Internet friend who helped with charting ideas. With the assistance of copy machines, would-be family artists and a lot of imagination, I was able to chart the badge in a very unorthodox way. I simply took a sheet of graph paper and traced a circle on it using a plate as a template (another good idea from a friend). Next I filled in the squares that ran beneath my circle. Simple enough. The eagle was traced from an enlarged photocopy of the badge. And finally, my creative mind began to function enough to be able to visualize what my new, charted design represented. However, the same design problem that existed with the Drill Instructor Badge now existed with the Recruiter Badge: it was standing out all by itself on the sampler. I needed something else to unify the sampler and I wondered, "What did I miss?" I went back through a number of other pins and several base insignias that I earlier decided to omit. How about letters...that's it! Letters! So I set upon charting out the most important words of all: my son's name, U.S. Army and the Army's slogan, "Be All You Can Be." Interestingly enough, those letters provided the weight needed for the last segment. But there was still one more thing that "had" to go on the sampler.

Infantry Soldiers who serve in the United States Army receive an Infantry Cord, which is worn on the right shoulder of their dress uniform under a shoulder strap. The Infantry Cord, known as an aiguillette, is made with a series of alternating left and right half knots that are tied around a leader cord to form a Solomon bar. Unfortunately, I could not find a chart or even a stitch that resembled his blue Infantry Cord. At one point in absolute desperation, I even purchased one at an Army Surplus store, hoping to take it apart to learn how it was made. I bought a variety of threads and cords, all in the same color, to try different approaches. Even with the help of David's Coast Guard knowledge of knots, he too failed to give me a clue as to how to stitch it during a visit. Furthermore, where was I going to place it on the sampler?

Once again, my good friends came to the rescue. I opened my mail one day and found diagrams for a Cable Plait stitch, which closely resembled the aiguillette. Eureka! With the stitch decision resolved, I finally decided to place the Infantry Cord with the Drill Instructor Badge. At last on March 28, 1999, the 16-inch by 52-inch sampler was finally completed. As I prepared for finishing and framing, I was going through my notes. Low and behold, I found a note from Dennis dated August 30, 1995. "Mom," the note began, 'Hope this can help you" and inside was a list of his awards and decorations. My gosh, I thought, it has been more than three years!

Remembering that military samplers will travel and get dirty, both were finished and framed with conservation methods and lightweight Plexi-glass to protect them from the elements, and the movers from backaches. It is highly unlikely that they will break, and my labors of love were preserved forever, to be enjoyed by my military hero's for many years to come. While David was home on leave from Louisiana in 1998, he spied me working on Dennis' sampler and reminded me that I needed to start working on a new one for him to show his ongoing efforts with the United States Coast Guard in recent years.

Julia Hollenbeck
June, 2000

Editors Note: Bullied into picking up camera and traveling the road again led to dropping needle and thread. Years have since passed; Dennis retired with 22-years under his belt and David continues with the United States Coast Guard. Both wonder if needle and thread will ever be picked up again to complete their remaining years of service marked in history with embroidered heritage samplers.

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