Artist’s Statement

Nine-eleven honors the heroes of the tragedy and eulogizes its martyrs on its fifth year anniversary. The quilt was particularly difficult to piece, as each section had to be done separately. Note the piecing of the firemen across the top section of the quilt. Each triangle was cut at a different angle to create a kind of movement across the top of the quilt..

In the central star step pattern, the two white, overlapping squares represent the two towers from above. The steps symbolize the stairways victims, rescuers, and survivors were forced to navigate. The snail's trail blocks to the right and left of the star step central image were really confusing to put together, as each consisted of 12 pieces of fabric that needed to match the other two blocks. Additionally, I wanted the left column to face right and the right column to face left and the two columns to be a little different from each other.

In the bottom row, the first left block symbolizes the plane that didn't reach the buildings. The second block symbolizes the Pentagon. The last two blocks symbolize the two planes colliding with the towers. I believe the color white symbolizes the innocents who were on board.

Creating Nine-eleven quilt created a kind of catharsis regarding the whole, terrible attack. It felt good to honor our heroes, our martyrs, and those they left behind. I hope the viewer will experience that feeling.

Quilt history: Shown at The Woodlands Area Quilt Guild biennial quilt exhibition, July, 2009. Published with Artist's Statement in Thanking Our Troops: God Bless America Touring Quilts, edited by Judy Howard (Dorcas Publishing, Oklahoma City, OK, pp. 59 & 60. $19.95).