Veterans Caucus Scholarship Quilts

Now that I have finished the Indian Wars quilt and it has been delivered, sold, and is in the hands of a new owner.... it is on to the next one. (I haven't heard how much it sold for but will start bugging people today! I really want to know. And find out who is the lucky new owner!)
Mexican-American War. 1846 – 1848. Quick history ~ The US annexed the Republic of Texas in 1845....and since Mexico did not recognize the secession of Texas in 1836, it still considered it a rebelling province. And as they say..... The fight was on. We won...they lost...Mexican debt was paid for...and Texas became a state.
Some of the facts ~ Although 13,000 U.S. soldiers died during the course of the Mexican-American War, only about 1,700 were killed in combat. 90% died of disease, such as yellow fever. About 12% of the more than 115,000 soldiers were wounded or discharged because of disease or both. For years the veterans suffered from devastating diseases contracted during the war. The casualty rate could easily reach 35 – 40 percent if later injury and disease-related deaths are added to the totals. It makes this war one of the proportionately most deadly in American military history. Mexican casualties are estimated at 25,000.
Many of the military leaders on both sides of the American Civil War will have fought as junior officers, including Ulysses S. Grant, George B. McClellan, Ambrose Burnside, Stonewall Jackson, James Longstreet, George Meade, and Robert E. Lee, as well as the future Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
I have a lot of research, reading, and compiling to do for the background. I also have a lot of quilts of the era to look at. I need to get a feeling for the times, styles, and designs before I decide on the final patterns and layout. I am hoping to find something that just clicks. Or inspiration to strike out of the blue like lightning! Good thing there are re-runs on TV and you can always 'listen' to a ball game. I have a large folder full of information collected over the last four years....so there is plenty to read. I will keep track of the ideas as they come up and post them. That will keep my progress on track and moving.
Now on to some work and lots of reading.