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Join the American Spirit Quilt Project today to show the resiliency of the American Spirit in the face of the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SEPTEMBER 12, 2001
For more information contact:
Jan Fry (402) 498-5785 or (800) 599-0094
The Quilt Heritage Foundation
P.O. Box 461147, Papillion, NE 68046
AMERICAN SPIRIT QUILTS TO SHOW HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
The Quilt Heritage Foundation is calling on quilters around the country and
throughout the world to create American Spirit Quilts “which show our hope and belief in
tomorrow in the aftermath of the tragedies of September 11 . The American Spirit will
triumph over tragedy,” says Nancy Kirk, President of the Foundation.
"Quilters have always responded to times of crisis by making quilts to help the
victims of disasters, to commemorate events that affect us and to bring comfort to
survivors," said Kirk. "We are helping to organize these efforts and encourage local quilt
guilds and other non-profit organizations join the project."
The American Spirit Quilt Project has two components -- making quilts to donate to local charities, and creating original design quilts to commemorate the American Spirit in response to this challenge.
. "The Quilt Heritage
Foundation will provide free patterns for quilters who want to make quilts for charity. The
other half of the project will be a quilt exhibit of original design quilts which will be
selected to honor the American Spirit in the face of tragedy and the
healing process that we have begun," said Jan Fry, one of the project coordinators.
Quilters who would like to make American Spirit charity quilts can find free
patterns at the project's website, www.americanspiritquilts.com. "We are asking people to
make quilts and give them to children's charities in their home communities. Our children
now live in a world where terrorism is a fact of life. We want to give them both comfort
and share our determination that the American Spirit will prevail." The Quilt Heritage
Foundation will post lists of participating charities that can use children's quilts.
Quilters are asked to send photos of the charity quilts,the quilt groups working on
them and the stories behind them to the Project for posting on the website.
Details of the national quilt exhibit will be
announced on the website over the next few weeks. According to Ms. Fry, "Our plan is to
select one representative quilt from each of the 50 states. These quilts will be featured on
the website, in an exhibit catalog and in an exhibit honoring the victims of the September
11 attack on America.
"We hope to exhibit photos of all the entered quilts on this website, and select one quilt from each state for a traveling or permanent exhibit.
“We are looking for quilts which give voice to our American Spirit." Entries will
be by photography and slides with an entry form available on the project's website. These quilts must be completed
by June 22, which is 9 months, 11 days from the date
of the tragedy. The date was chosen because the 9/11 date will forever be seared into our
collective consciousness as the date of the attacks on New York and Washington D. C.
and the crash in Pennsylvania.
Quilt shops, quilt guilds and national organizations that want to participate in the
American Spirit Quilt Project can sign up on the web at www.americanspiritquilts.com.
They will receive a certificate of participation and a list of suggestions on how they and
their customers can participate.
The Quilt Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the
promotion of the art of quilting and the study and appreciation of quilt making. Donations
to the Foundation are tax-deductible under Section 501-c-3 of the Internal Revenue
Service Code.
For more information, contact Jan Fry, Project Coordinator, at 402-498-5785 or
800-599-0094 or by writing American Spirit Quilt Project, P. O. Box 461147, Papillion,
NE 68046, or send an e-mail to quilthf@aol.com.
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