Ground zero quilt wanted in Maine

The March-April issue of Piecework magazine, one of my favorites, contains news of artist Lois Jarvis’ ground zero quilt, which contains 700 photographs of people who died when the Twin Towers fell in Manhattan. The quilt is part of the American Spirit Quilt Exhibition, now touring the United States. The exhibit focuses on the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Jarvis completed the quilt Jan. 8, 2002.

The closest the American Spirit Quilt Exhibition will come to Maine is when it is on display at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield, Mass., Aug. 27-29.

Lois Jarvis lives in Madison, Wis., and to the best of my knowledge has no Maine connections. So why write about her and her quilt? Because I’m hoping civic organizations will take the bull moose by the horns and arrange for the quilt to be shown in Bangor and-or other Maine locations when the ground zero quilt becomes available for solo showings in 2005.

By all descriptions, and judging from the photo in Piecework magazine, and photos posted on the Web site, www.loisjarvisquilts.com, the ground zero quilt Jarvis made is a stunning blend of tradition and technology. It’s also a memorial in the sense that the Vietnam memorial in Washington, D.C., is a memorial – except that it isn’t wedded to the ground and contains no names. It has, according to those who have seen it, the same kind of spiritual and emotional impact.

Jarvis used the traditional Lone Star pattern for the quilt. She chose the pattern because she wanted a design that looked like “an explosion with outward movement.” An inner border contains the blast. The outer border, in shades of black and gray, symbolizes the colors of the smoke, dust, and the mood of sadness and mourning that dropped like a veil over our hearts that terrible day.

The star is composed of 700 diamond-shaped pieces. Each one of those pieces is a photograph of someone who died in the Twin Towers.

The photographs were downloaded from the CNN Web site onto fabric treated with Bubble Jet Set 2000, which makes the printer ink permanent on fabric. She stabilized the fabric with fusible webbing before running it through the computer printer. Then she cut out the photographs and sewed them together to form the star.

More than 1,000 photos were downloaded, 800 were printed and 700 were used. Jarvis has a list of the names of the people whose faces are in the quilt.

Jarvis writes that she made the quilt because she wanted to remind viewers that the loss of buildings and their material content paled in comparison to the loss of so many people, young and old, full of so much promise.

It is Jarvis’ hope that when a permanent memorial is constructed on the ground zero site, her quilt will be housed there and available to anyone who wants to see it.

But before that, I hope a way will be found to bring the quilt to Maine so that I may see, firsthand, this amazing piece of art that memorializes not only those who died, but the spirit of the artist whose very human and gifted hands created it.

Those interested in bringing the quilt to Maine should visit www.loisjarvisquilts.com, e-mail loisjarvis@usa.net, or call toll free (877) 268-2259.

Snippets

Those wishing to enhance or acquire needlework and craft skills may want to enroll in courses in the Hampden Adult Education Program. It is offering Knitting for Beginners and the Experienced, Rug Braiding, Beginner’s Sewing, Creative Scrapbooking and Fly Tying. Call 862-6422 to learn more about cost and registration.

A reader from Blue Hill would like to know if readers have ideas for things to make with “yo-yos” – round, hemmed, gathered pieces of fabric that are sewn together to make bedspreads, garments and tablecloths. E-mail her at ajscroggy@hypernet.com.

A reader writes that Sandra Hatch of Lincoln is not the only one lucky enough to edit a national magazine from her home. Pam Allen, the new editor of Interweave’s knitting magazine, telecommutes from her home in Camden.

Way to go, ladies!