The World Trade Center/Pentagon/Pennsylvania Memorial quilt will be on exhibit, in its entirety, for the first time at a limited engagement, September 10-11(9am-9pm), and 12 (9am – 5pm) at The Seattle Center House, in Seattle, WA.
Immediately after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Amy Sue Leasure, an avid quilter, mother and police dispatcher from Prescott Valley, AZ., decided to create quilts dedicated to those who lost their lives in the attacks.
She set up a Web site and
asked for donations of 12-inch, red, white and blue quilt squares in a star
pattern with the intention that there would be a star for every victim. The
squares were to be sewn into panels consisting of 25 squares, and 300
panels would be constructed to build the quilt. This meant that she would
need 7,500 squares.
Amy received almost 20,000 squares from more than 30 countries!
Amy Sue Leasure died of cancer in 2002, and the project was put on hold. In January 2004, her family asked Brian Kohler to take over the project. Mr. Kohler said, “Amy’s husband delivered the quilt to Seattle, and I am now working with the help of volunteers on the many tasks necessary to complete the project.” Brian began his work with the quilt by assembling and quilting several of the main quilt panels, and now heads up the national project. “I didn’t lose anyone in the attacks,” he says, “but I needed a tangible way to process my feelings and emotions. The quilt has helped me and many others do that.” This project has become a symbol of peace, healing and remembrance.
Amy’s vision was for the quilt to go on a national tour and become part of a permanent exhibit in a museum, hopefully in New York City.
Information about the WTC/Pentagon/Pennsylvania Quilt Project is available at http://www.WTCmemorialquilt.com
