Remembering September 11, 2001

Today I am reminded of the events of September 11, 2001. On that day I was home recovering from the surgery I had two weeks prior. My sister and her kids had moved in with me in July. Normally I don't watch television in the morning, but my niece loved to watch Good Morning America and had it on. I was in the kitchen when I heard her say, "what the..." From the kitchen I asked her what happened. When she replied that an airplane had hit a building, I came in to watch the television with her. We thought we were watching a replay of the airplane hitting the building and then realized in horror that it was another plane hitting a building. As we watched we heard about the unbelievable details. We were stunned.

My niece and nephews went to school and that left me at home alone to watch the events as they unfolded. Because of the surgery I was supposed to be resting, but eventually I became so agitated and upset that I had to do something. I turned off the television because I needed a break from the horror. I felt the need to create something beautiful to counteract the ugliness of the day. I had been working on a folk art quilt that was in red, white, and blue. I had already finished the top, but decided that I would make a block for the back of the quilt to help me remember the day. So I made this flag block.


I have since embroidered "In Memory" at the top and "09-11-01" on the bottom, but I don't have a photograph of that yet. This block is in the upper left of the quilt back. The quilt isn't done yet, but when it is I plan to add quilting that is significant for the block.

I will never forget what happened that day. I hope to never see another event of that nature.