This quilt was made for the retiring Regional Director of Webster University-National Capital Region. Dr. Richards worked for Webster for nearly 20 years, expanding the one campus at then-Bolling AFB to four locations in the National Capital Region. Webster-NCR is composed of 4 campuses to include the regional hub at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Fort Belvoir, the Bureau of Naval Medicine and Surgery, and Joint Base Andrews.
The 3 branches of service are memorialized by the nautical signal flags that spell out CARL RICHARDS, the airplane fabric used in two flag blocks, and the Army BDU fabric used as sashing. The BDU fabric is part of a uniform from an employee’s spouse. The digital ACUs are from a former coordinator who also serves in the National Guard. Carl is an avid skier, so snowflake motifs are utilized as well. The R fabric was chosen as it is the first letter of his surname. These can be seen in the H block at the bottom of the complete quilt.
The yellow with the light blue scrolls is the same fabric as used in the window treatments at the Fort Belvoir office. Dr. Richards is a known coffee aficionado and an oenophile, so 2 coffee designs and a wine print were incorporated as well.
Webster’s main campus is in St. Louis, so Cardinals fabric was incorporated. Additionally, Baltimore Oriole fabric was used to represent Maryland, Dr. Richards’ home. The cherry blossoms represent the District of Columbia, and the gold coin motif was chosen as a symbol of the financial success of Webster-NCR under Dr. Richard's reign. The bright blue fabric with large lettering is repurposed from Webster tote bags as is the central square.The center of the quilt depicts the Webster Gorlock, mascot of the University. I hand-tinted the image before quilting it.
We will miss Carl greatly as he steps away from Webster World and embarks on his new ventures. Best of luck to him.
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