"Wake Up Call": Quilt Art by Rebekka Seigel

This is the first quilt in a series that tries to tell the story of train travel when it was in it’s heyday. The image of the servicemen asleep in the terminal while on a layover was one I found in the archives of the Cincinnati Post and Times Star. I was attracted to the innocence of a time when a man could fall asleep in a train terminal with a sign on his chest indicating when he wished to be awakened and be assured that someone would care enough to make sure he made his next train connection on time. I made this piece because my husband and son loved trains, but it was the people who rode the trains who were far more interesting to me. I gave this quilt to my father who was in the Navy during W.W.II, the time when this image was made, as it seemed fitting that he should have it as a remembrance of his years in the service. The Baltimore and Ohio train in the border was chosen because my husband remembers watching in fascination as those trains went by when he was a child.