Tag: Political Quilts

Remembering September 11

What Comes Next, 2001-2002
What Comes Next, 2001-2002

Another year and I don’t think things are better.  I blame Geo. W in general for the way the world is now. If he had acted differently, things might be different now. Fewer post 9/11 dead, fewer wars, less nationalism and hatred. Of course, some of the post-9/11 Presidents haven’t helped the situation. Easy for me to say, I know.

The same old men are still in charge. There are still people dying in the Middle East. I am not excusing the radicals; I just don’t know if there is anything that can make everyone tolerate everyone else, stop killing each other for religion and stay in their lane. It is depressing to think about.

There are now adults who weren’t even born on that day, which I know I said last year. Now they are in the workplace and don’t even react when September 11 is mentioned. There are even more adults who were too young to remember. Do they even care? 

Fireball, 2001
Fireball, 2001

I made two quilts to commemorate the lives lost during the destruction of the Twin Towers. The first one was Fireball, which is the imagery I saw as I sat and watched TV the week after the event.

 I was doing woven art pieces at the time and this is one of them. It is chaotic, reminds me of smoke and flames. This is a small quilt, maybe 12×12, and I was able to channel the pure emotion into this piece as I made it very quickly. The quilt was shown at the Houston Quilt Festival in 2001.

The quilt I really wanted to make took longer. I wanted to plead for something different than what ended up coming out of that terrible day. I wished for something different than a 20+ year war. People just want to fight when they are attacked; they don’t want to talk. What Comes Next is above and is one of my favorite quilts even though it had no effect.

This is a hard post for me to write. I had to force myself once again to write it this year, to get the message of What Comes Next out there, so, perhaps, people will think and do something different next time, though I hope there isn’t a next time.

My friend Kathy wrote a essay on this topic.

Two Sunflowers

These are the two sunflower blocks I made for the Wrap the World in Quilts project to make quilts for Ukraine. Posting the pattern last time generated a lot of interest in making the block. I hope that means people are contributing to the project.

I am also including some blocks people sent me.

Julie's sunflower
Julie’s sunflower

Some of my friends took my pattern and made some sunflower blocks. Friend Julie took my pattern and worked on this block. I am always so excited to see the fabrics people choose. Julie wrote about her blocks (she picked another to make as well) in her blog while I was away.

I really like the center of Julie’s block. It is different, but gives the impression of a sunflower center.

She finished two, one of which I didn’t see in the original post. The one that doesn’t use my pattern is fantastic as well. I am so glad I put up the pattern. It has inspired people to make blocks for a good cause!

Carrie's Sunflower blocks
Carrie’s Sunflower blocks

Carrie also took my pattern and tried to make some blocks. She struggled with the ‘flip & sew’ sections of the center as I did. Her blocks will be good for the project anyway.

I hope posting the pattern has enabled people to make a lot of blocks.

 

Remembering September 11

I still feel strong emotions when September 11 rolls around. As I implied last year, what has changed?

Fireball, 2001
Fireball, 2001

I made two quilts to commemorate the lives lost during the destruction of the Twin Towers. The first one was Fireball, which is what I could see as I sat and watched TV.

It is chaotic, reminds me of smoke and flames. This is a small quilt, maybe 12×12, and I was able to channel the pure emotion into this piece as I made it very quickly. I was doing woven art pieces at the time and this is one of them.

What Comes Next, 2001-2002
What Comes Next, 2001-2002

The quilt I really wanted to make took longer. I wanted to plead for something different than what we got. I wish something different than a 20+ year war could have come out of that. people just want to fight when they are attacked; they don’t want to talk.

This is a hard post for me to write. I force myself to do it every year, to get the message of What Comes Next out there, so, perhaps, people will think and do something different next time.

Remember September 11

What Comes Next, 2001-2002
What Comes Next, 2001-2002

I thought about not writing this post this year. Then I thought about the recent takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and all the changes that have taken place in the Middle East since 9/11. My quilt ‘What Comes Next’ still reflects my vision of the future.

In a New York Times article I saw this week, the photo says “more of the same” to me. Members of the Taliban leadership sit in a room in the home of the former Afghan intelligence chief in Kabul. They are all men. They have guns in a room that looks like it once was a place where people sat and talked before a fancy dinner.

I don’t see anyone doing anything different. People fight each other for power. They destroy everything and then try to govern the rubble. Families are broken apart; cities are ruined and so many people have died since 2001. I don’t see the point anymore. Did we get justice for those on the planes?

9/11 Again

Once again, 9/11 is upon us. It sort of snuck up on me this year. There hasn’t been the hoopla surrounding the event as there was last year. I guess there has been too much other stuff going on.

What Comes Next, 2001-2002
What Comes Next, 2001-2002

What Comes Next hangs in my workroom so I look at it every day. In some ways, it can be construed as an altar, because I do look at it every time I pass by and hope that my wish espoused in this quilt is not too far away. It isn’t just part of the background even after so many years.

Like Down the Drain, this quilt was meant to be and came together relatively quickly and with few problems.

I still remember 9/11. I had an almost 5YO. DH was out of town with our BIL on a vacation. I didn’t even know what had happened, because I don’t listen to the news before I head off to work. My mom called me in a panic telling me to turn on the TV. I didn’t want to and couldn’t imagine why it mattered. I couldn’t imagine something like the actions of 9/11 happening.

What’s worse is what came after. The wars, ISIS, Al-Quaida, the European cities under siege, the huge debt that will crush us all one day. The mess that is the Middle East. I am not saying that those things wouldn’t have happened anyway, but I think a different response was required.