Maine
Ÿ Lobsters love the Maine coast because of its environment of cold, clean water and rocky bottom habitat ideal for lobsters.
Ÿ Economic Impact: Maine lobster makes a major contribution to the state's economy. In 2006, the catch exceeded 72 million pounds and generated close to $300 million in ex-vessel or dock value. The fishery provides a livelihood for over 5,700 lobster harvesters, and supports businesses such as processors, dealers, marine outfitters, boat makers, retailers and restaurants. This vital fishing industry supports hundreds of small, coastal villages and communities that give Maine its unique character.
Ÿ Harvesters: Lobsters in Maine are harvested by boat captains independently or with one or two assistants. Lobstering in Maine is largely an in-shore fishery, with boats generally making day trips within 10-12 miles of shore. Each harvester can fish up to 800 traps, hauling and setting a portion of their traps each day. The colorful buoys dotting the Maine coastline are like registered trademarks for the harvesters. Each lobsterman registers his or her buoy markings with the State.
Rhode Island
Ÿ Almost 90 years after Rhode Island became the last of the original thirteen colonies to form a union, the General Assembly of the state adopted an official design for a state flag. The colors and design of the flag date back to colonial times and the original establishment of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations under King Charles II of England. The most prominent feature of the flag, the anchor, dates back to 1647 and the Cromwellian Patent of 1643 when the Providence Plantations were established. Later, when a more liberal charter was bestowed upon the colony, the anchor was again chosen for the seal and the word "HOPE" was added.
Ÿ The state is also the Ocean State. When I lived there I always loved to watch the sailboats and sit by the ocean, hence the sea gull fabric, and the sailboats for the center fabric.
New Mexico
Ÿ I think the alien fabric is self explanatory for this state.
Ÿ The Roswell Incident involved the recovery of materials near Roswell, New Mexico, USA, on July 7, 1947, and since the early 1980s has become the subject of intense speculation, rumor and questioning. There are widely divergent views on what actually happened and passionate debate about what evidence can be believed. The United States military maintains that what was actually recovered was debris from an experimental high-altitude surveillance balloon belonging to a classified program named "Mogul". Many UFO proponents maintain that a crashed alien craftcover-up. The incident has turned into a widely-recognized and referred to pop culture and bodies were recovered, and that the military engaged in a phenomenon, and for some, Roswell is synonymous with UFOs. It ranks as one of the most publicized and controversial UFO incidents ever.
Hawaii
Ÿ The hibiscus, all colors and varieties, was the official Territorial Flower, adopted in the early 1920s. At statehood in 1959, the first state legislature adopted many of Hawaii's symbols as part of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS, state laws). It wasn't until 1988, however, that the yellow hibiscus which is native to the islands was selected to represent Hawaii. For this reason, you will see many older photos and postcards with the red hibiscus, or any other color for that matter, as the state flower. These weren't incorrect at the time.
Ÿ I chose the green fabric because when I went to Hawaii I was just amazed by how green and beautiful everything was.
Ÿ Saguaro Cactus Blossom :Carnegiea gigantean: In 1901 the saguaro’s blossom was adopted as the official territorial flower, and later, in 1931, it was confirmed as the state flower. The saguaro cactus typically blooms in May and June. It is one of the most unique state flowers, and is characterized by having a waxy feel, but fragrant aroma. There may be hundreds of flowers on a saguaro cactus that bloom just several at a time over a period of more than a month. The saguaro flowers have a short life; they open at night and close permanently during the next day. Many of the blossoms will become pollinated and, later in the summer, the flowers become red-fleshed fruits that are enjoyed by the local bird population.
Oklahoma
Ÿ Oklahoma designated the buffalo as official state animal 1972. A bull buffalo can weigh over 1800 pounds and stand 6 foot tall at the shoulder. Buffalo once roamed the American prairie by the tens of millions and provided a way of life for the plains Indians. But European settlers hunted buffalo to the brink of extinction - it's estimated that between 300 - 500 animals remained when the federal government passed stricter game laws in 1889.
Ÿ Oklahoma is the nations #4 producer of wheat in the country. I thought the fabric would look nice with the buffalo.
South Carolina
Ÿ Yellow Jessamine :Gelsemium sempervirens : Officially adopted by the General Assembly on February 1, 1924, for the following reasons: it is indigenous to every nook and corner of the State; it is the first premonitor of coming Spring; its fragrance greets us first in the woodland and its delicate flower suggests the pureness of gold; its perpetual return out of the dead Winter suggests the lesson of constancy in, loyalty to and patriotism in the service of the State. "No flower that blooms holds such perfume, As kindness and sympathy won. Wherever there grows the sheltering pine Is clinging a Yellow Jessamine vine." From "Legend of the Yellow Jessamine," by Mrs. Teresa Strickland of Anderson, South Carolina, when the flower was made the emblem of Dixie Chapter, U.D.C., about 1906. The "Carolina or Yellow Jessamine" is defined by the New International Encyclopedia as "A climbing plant which grows upon trees and fences and bears a profusion of yellow, funnel-shaped flowers an inch in diameter, with a fragrance similar to that of the true Jasmine." Its odor on a damp evening or morning fills the atmosphere with a rare and delicate sweetness.
Ÿ GREAT CAROLINA WREN: TROGLODYTES LUDOVICIANUS, Bonap. [Thryothorus ludovicianus.] The flight of this bird is performed by short flappings of the wings, the concave under surfaces of which occasion a low rustling, as it moves to the distance of a few steps only at each start. It is accompanied by violent jerks of the tail and body, and is by no means graceful. In this manner the Carolina Wren moves from one fence-rail to another, from log to log, up and down among the low branches of bushes piles of wood, and decayed roots of prostrate trees, or between the stalks of canes. Its tail is almost constantly erect, and before it starts to make the least flight or leap, it uses a quick motion, which brings its body almost into contact with the object on which it stands, and then springs from its legs. All this is accompanied with a strong chirr-up, uttered as if the bird were in an angry mood, and repeated at short intervals.
Ÿ Civil War Background Fabric: In antebellum America a small class of slave owners, especially cotton planters, dominated the politics and society of the South. Dependent on “King Cotton,” the plantation system, and slave labor, South Carolina planters were vocal pro-slavery and states' rights proponents. Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the presidential election of 1860 triggered South Carolina’s secession from the Union.
Ÿ From pre-Civil War Southern culture to the Reconstruction era, South Carolina played a significant role in American Civil War history. Tour the plantation homes of the senator who coined the phrase, “Cotton is King” and South Carolina’s “secession governor,” take a Civil War walking tour of Charleston, visit Fort Sumter National Monument where the first shots of the Civil War were fired and the battleground where Confederate and Union troops clashed near the war's end during Sherman’s march through the state.
Alaska
Ÿ The pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) is also known as the "humpback" or "humpy" because of its very pronounced, laterally flattened hump which develops on the backs of adult males before spawning. It is called the "bread and butter" fish in many Alaskan coastal fishing communities because of its importance to commercial fisheries and thus to local economies. Pink salmon also contribute substantially to the catch of sport anglers and subsistence users in Alaska. It is native to Pacific and arctic coastal waters from northern California to the Mackenzie River, Canada, and to the west from the Lena River in Siberia to Korea.
Ÿ The crest of the Bear Clan has its origins in one of the most widely told of all Haida legends - that of Bear Mother. She was born a chief's daughter and through various events, became the wife of a handsome young bear who was nephew to a great bear chief. After giving birth to twin cubs, her husband was killed by her real brothers on condition that they would take the bear crest as their own, thus beginning the bear clan. This helped to maintain the good relations between bears and humans and has forever established the bear as a highly respected and powerful clan crest.
All of the descriptions are from chinarockfishakm. She did a fabulous job with researching the state information.
