In Flanders Field

Flanders Field, Belgium

John McCrae, 1872-1918

One of the most famous World War I poems was written in 1915 by Canadian John McCrae. He was inspired to write his poem on May 3rd, 1915, after performing the burial service of Alexis Helmer, a friend and fellow soldier who died in the Second Battle of Ypres, Belgium the day before. At the time, he had noted how quickly the poppies grew around the graves of those who had died. Sitting in the back of an ambulance, he composed the poem, then crumpled the paper and threw it away. Another soldier retrieved the poem and convinced McCrae to submit it for publication. McCrae worked on the poem for months before submitting it to The Spectator in London. Although they rejected it, the poem was sent to Punch where it was published on December 8th, 1915.

"In Flanders Field" became the most popular poem of its era. It was republished throughout the world and became synonymous with the sacrifice of soldiers in World War I. Real poppies became a symbol for honoring soldiers of World War I are worn to this day on Remembrance Day.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We Lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from falling hands we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though our poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
      -- Lt. Colonel John McCrae
 

Canadian Soldiers in France During World War I, 1916

Kimberly's Garden - 1930s Fabric

Kimberly’s Garden is a beautiful new collection of 1930s era reproduction prints by Fresh Water Designs. Kimberly was a sales representative for the E.E. Schenck company. She died from pancreatic cancer at Christmas time. Sick for approximately 13 months, she had been working on a hexagon quilt using vintage 1930s-40s fabrics from a salesman sample book. After she passed, the company decided to print a line of fabrics in her honor. They chose many of the samples that she had been using in her hexagon quilt and dedicated a portion of the profits to the American Cancer Society. Grandma's Attic is proud to carry all 39 prints from this beautiful collection. To order, click here.

J.F. Ingalls Roses Embroidery Club

J.F. Ingall's Roses Embroidery Club

Look what we just added to our Grandma's Attic embroidery selections! These beautiful roses are truly timeless. Each hand embroidered rose is adapted from  the J.F. Ingalls Stamping Catalog of 1887. Back then, the designs could be purchased for between 15 and 35 cents each. Customers would then have to create them using a process that involved stamping ink, a pad and kerosene or benzene to transfer the pattern to cloth.

Today, you can recreate the splendor of days gone by using Transfer-Eze, a convenient method for transferring patterns to cloth without first having to draw or trace them. Our J.F. Ingalls Roses Embroidery Club brings you 12 beautiful rose patterns, the Transfer-Eze to transfer them, and the fabric and floss to turn them into miniature wall hangings or decorative potholders. The background is white and the borders are hand-painted batiks.

Create them yourself or give them as a gift to someone who loves to hand embroider. Click here to join this monthly club!