Wednesday, March 13, 2002
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Wednesday, March 13, 2002 |
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Special quilts honor America's heroes Warmth and comfort are the feelings Rising Starr Middle School students hope their patriotic quilts will bring to New York City firefighters. Each semester, Carmen Eiserman's home economics class learns about the art of quilt making and applies the knowledge to create quilts for premature babies. This term, the class is deviating from the project's usual focus to concentrate on another group of people that it believes needs the blankets just as much. Students are working hard to make as many of the 20- by 24-inch patriotic quilts as they can in a three-day period. Through the Quilt Guild of the Southern Crescent, they will send the quilts to a fire station in New York City to be displayed or given to the families of firefighters who lost their lives during the 911 attacks. Red, white and blue material has been donated for the project. Some material has been cut into strips and others into blocks so that students can arrange the pieces to resemble an American flag. Through the help of guild members who are volunteering their time during the three-day period, students are learning how to pin, baste and sew the material together to make a small quilt. "Quilt guilds across the United States have been making quilts and sending them to New York. Our guild wanted to do the same thing and we decided it would be great to involve the students," said guild member Erin Haugh. After the quilts are finished, a label will be sewn on the back of each one featuring the name of the school and the signatures of students who worked on it. While the students are enjoying learning how to make quilts, many say the real joy they are getting from the assignment is knowing that their creations will bring a smile to those they consider to be true heroes. "I understand how hard firefighters work to help keep people in our country safe," said seventh grader Patrick Bugara. "It makes me feel good to know that our quilts will be hung in one of the fire departments to help the firemen cope with the Sept. 11 tragedy." The quilts are scheduled to be shipped to New York City in the next couple of weeks.
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