Quilt

Handmade quilt composed of assorted fabrics with embroidery and appliques. Fifty small puffy attachments of stars, hearts, and other shapes are sewn across the quilt. The quilt is primarily red, white, and blue with patriotic-themed fabrics. In the center is a printed fabric with an angel holding an American flag. Below is a strip of fabric with text that reads: "In Memory - September 11, 2001." Surrounding the center are thirteen smaller quilt squares, each with a memorial tribute. Represented victims include Anthony Mark Ventura, Gloria Nieves, Richard A. Palazzolo, Glen Wall, John Michael Sbarbaro, James Joseph Kelly, Matthew Timothy O'Mahony, Jason Michael Cefalu, Ronald Orsini, Robert J. Coll, Jose Juan Marrero, Kevin Patrick York, Jeremy Caz Carrington, Stephen Gerard Hoffman, Vishnoo Ramsaroop, Thomas Anderson Hobbs, Thomas Francis Dennis, Sr., Kris Romeo Bishundat, and Felicia Hamilton. The quilt is also covered in handwritten signatures and messages written in fabric pen.

In 2001, Jane Cattani-Boone was an art teacher at Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education CTE High School, where she taught commercial art. Boone first became aware of the September 11th terrorist attacks when a student from her first class of the day arrived late and announced to everyone that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center. Parents began to pick up their children at school as the news became more widely known.

Days after 9/11, as Boone’s students returned to classes and the city grieved, her idea for a Memory Quilt began to take shape. Boone favored engaging students with group art projects that benefited the school and promoted artistic self-expression. She solicited the assistance of the school librarian, an avid quilter who kept fabric and fabric markers in the library, and began contacting students who had lost a friend, relative, or family acquaintance on 9/11. She helped them create individual quilt squares honoring each of their loved ones. Boone eventually extended participation in the project to all students, staff, and faculty.

The process of designing and assembling the quilt was complex. The Memory Quilt incorporated the signatures and written sentiments of approximately 190 school staff members and 1700 students. The signatures and brief messages were written in permanent fabric pen ink in the white textile spaces outlining personalized victim patches at the center of the Memory Quilt. In total, staff and students spent over 300 hours assembling the project. In March 2002, the quilt was displayed at the Urban Inspirations quilt show in Manhattan and the Floral Fantasy quilt show in Freeport, Long Island. A Spring 2002 magazine issue of The Quilt Connection also featured Boone’s quilt and described other 9/11 memorial quilting projects.