FLIGHT 93 QUILTS

            THE FOLLOWING IS A STORY ABOUT QUILTS THAT HANG IN THE FLIGHT 93 MEMORIAL CHAPEL.  IN HONOR OF 9/11 I THOUGHT I'D SHARE THIS STORY.

           Beside a country road in rural Pennsylvania sits a small chapel that is like no other.  The white building is surrounded by beautiful plants and directly in front of its red doors stands a large bell tower.  On the side of the bell tower is a large light beacon.  Inside the chapel, near each of the windows hang four very impressive hand-made quilts.  The quilts have been designed, like everything else inside the Flight 93 Memorial chapel, to honor those who sacrificed their lives on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.

            The founder of the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel is Bishop Alphonse T. Mascherino of the Aspostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East.  After the chapel opened on September 11, 2002, he wanted to have quilts hanging inside the building.  The quilts he wished to have would depict the four freedoms enunciated in a speech by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1941.  His desire was so great that Mascherino actually purchased quilting material and a sewing machine.  Unfortunately he came to understand that he had no idea how to do such a thing.  With more than just a bit of disappointment he reluctantly put the quilt idea on hold.  The sewing machine and quilting materials were put into storage.

It was during the spring of 2008 when his dream of having the quilts he desired hanging in the Chapel became a reality.  Some quilters traveling home from a Quilters Show in Kentucky stopped at the Flight 93 crash site.  It was a moving experience for them and they were emotional by the time they reached the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel.

Father Mascherino was happy to spend time with them.

            “It started in 2002 whenever I found out there were quilters around.  I just thought quilts were something that ordinary people could make.  It was about two years ago when this bus came on a visit.  The people on it happened to be quilters.  But I didn't know that at the time and talked to them and gave a presentation about the chapel.  They were kind of impressed with the chapel and the things other people had done here and all the volunteers that had participated in making it.  They wanted to do something.  I think I was out in the yard doing something like cutting grass and they said they were from Redding, which I think is about 3 ½ hours away.  They said they couldn’t cut grass but would like to do something.  I asked what they could do and they said they were quilters.  I simply said ‘Bingo’ can I interest you in a little project that I have in mind?”

            About six weeks after returning home from visiting the chapel the women who had been on the trip got together.  They immediately began the design process for the quilts.

            Janis Petre is one of the quilters who was involved with the project.

            “We called Father Mascherino and asked him to measure the windows of the chapel.  Each quilt was to be 30 inches long and 80 inches wide.  I took those measurements and cut paper to that size and put that paper on a table in front of the other women.  I told them we needed to make four quilts this size.  There was a lot of reaction as suddenly everyone realized we’d taken on a huge project.”

            The design process was a challenge.  The one freedom they struggled with most to design was the freedom of religion and worship.  Father Mascherino wanted no religious symbols at all.  He wanted the quilt to be nondenominational.  When the women designed the quilt with the bell tower from the chapel he was very happy.

            Jackie Gauker is the owner of Quilter’s Palette and permitted the work to be done in her store in the evenings and on Sundays. 

            “Everyone sort of chipped in and offering my store is sort of how I chipped in for the project.  It was neat to see the evolution of how everyone worked through the design process.  You got down to exactly what was essential.”

            It took about a year and a half from the beginning of the design process until the completion of the quilts.  During that time the group had more than 30 meetings and spent hours sketching ideas for the pattern.  They then had to choose the colors and do all the cutting of the fabric.  They had to select background and boarder material.  When that was finished there was still all of the sewing, quilting and embroidering to be done.  It was decided to use the stained glass window border on each of the quilts.  All of the quilts have fabric that was used in all of the other quilts.

            “We worked sometimes once a week and at times in the evenings and on Saturdays and Sundays.  Sometimes for as long as six hours.” said Jane Hague who worked on the quilt.

            Upon completion of the quilts the group was relieved but also quite pleased with the end result.  Everyone had only seen them up close but when were able to see the quilts from a distance they were even more satisfied with their work.

A dedication of the four quilts took place on May 29, 2010 at the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel.  A bus of quilters and many other people made their way to Shanksville, Pa to attend the ceremony.  The chapel was completely filled.  Before the ceremony each of the quilts was covered.  During the ceremony a quilter who had been involved with the project give a little talk about a quilt and would then remove the covering to let the quilt unfurl. 

            “As we would show each quilt during the ceremony there were plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aaaahs’ and even many wet eyes” said Janis Petre.

            People come from all over the country and other parts of the world go to Shanksville, Pa  to see the Flight 93 crash site.  Many of them stop to see the Flight 93 Memorial Chapel.  The quilts always get plenty of attention.  They have impressed many visitors.  Father Mascherino can’t get over how people react to them.

            “There are many people who stop here at the chapel and don't even know anything about the quilts but are just overwhelmed when they see them.  Those quilts represent a significant dedication to the creative process.  One woman who had only heard about them came in the door right in the middle of church and wanted to know where the quilts were.  Sometimes people do get the impression that they have been here for forever.  When I tell them they were just put up I always get asked if they’re going to stay.  I tell everyone these quilts are a permanent part of the chapel.”

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NONSENSICAL PROBLEM SOLVING

            There are those of us who feel that man-made global warming or climate change is a hoax.  If man-made global warming was a scientific fact nobody would be able to dispute it, because it would be a fact and not simply a theory.  Unfortunately since it’s a theory there are people who not only believe in man-made global warming or climate change but have come up with some rather creative solutions to solve the problem. 

            Nippon Airways from Japan must feel tremendous amounts of guilt having their planes gliding through the air spewing out deadly carbon for a profit.  In order to alleviate such guilt this airlines actually has a program that asks its passengers not to use the in-flight bathrooms while they are in the air.  The reason is the passenger’s bodily waste will cause greater weight on the plane and lead to higher fuel consumption.  Huh?  After getting molested or radiated by the TSA now you’re going to be asked not to use the airplane bathroom to save the environment.  I bet you’ll only be able to use it if you’ve purchased carbon credits from Al Gore.

            Nothing makes more sense when fighting a war then to take the environment into consideration when you’re blowing your enemy into oblivion.  Scientists from the U.S and Germany have actually been working together to create something called a “green bomb.”  The explosives in this device were designed to release fewer toxins then other similar type ordinance.  Such explosives are able to work because they get their energy from carbon instead of nitrogen.  Now if we can only get terrorists to consider also using environmentally friendly suicide bomb vests, global warming or climate change would probably disappear quickly.

            At times there is nothing more freighting than people who call themselves scientists and eagerly demonstrate how they’ve lost their grip on reality.  A group of scientists, including a Nobel laureate, presented a unique idea to the United Nations conference on climate change.  (If the previously mentioned scientists are reading this the following is sarcasm and not to be considered a cure for man-made global warming or climate change.)  They have suggested pumping more smog into the atmosphere would protect the Earth from the devastation brought forth by greenhouse gasses because the extra smog would block all the excessive heat.  These are obviously the type of scientists who necessitate the wearing of sunglasses around them so their intellectual brilliance does not blind you.  Hey, they just may be onto something here.  If that works I bet having someone with lung cancer smoke more tobacco products might cause a layer of smoke to surround the disease and prevent it from spreading to other parts of the body.  Sounds like a great idea.  What could go wrong?  Get your sunglasses on around me from now on because I’m feeling like a scientist.

            I never knew there was such a thing as a glaciologist but it appears there are such scientific-type people.  They study glaciers, ice and natural phenomena.  I don’t know exactly where they get these people or if long exposures to ice and glaciers can cause brain damage in them.  An American glaciologist suggested the melting nation of Greenland could be saved by wrapping a giant blanket around the valleys that attract more of the sun’s heat in an effort to prevent them from melting.  Think of the all the business opportunities this presents.  Travel brochures could tell people to come see Greenland’s beautiful ice covered valleys protected by the world’s largest blanket.  Blanket manufacturers could claim they’re selling a blanket made from the same material as the one protecting the ice of Greenland.  I say if your country is melting into the sea why not make a little money on the situation before you need a jet ski for a family outing.

            We all love celebrities.  We’re impressed with their music and marvel at their acting talents.  We love them so much that when they aren’t reading from a script or singing a song we overlook how they sound like total idiots.  Environmental champion Singer Sheryl Crow has taken on the cause of cutting down on excessive waste in the name of expanded population.  She actually proposes a limitation on the number of squares of toilet paper can be used in one sitting.  I’d sure hate to use too many squares and the roll automatically alert the police who come and arrest me for excessive toilet paper usage.  It might work if they offer a discount for 12 ply toilet paper.

            Unfortunately for cows environmental scientists don’t like them.  They believe cows produce more gas then people at a beer drinking contest in a Mexican restaurant.  Environmental scientists love kangaroos because they’re the only species of animal that cannot break wind.  This makes sense because I don’t ever recall a kangaroo asking anybody to pull its finger.  Scientists in Australia decided to take the anti-farting ability bacteria out of the kangaroo and reproduce it in the cow.  Let’s hope cows don’t start hopping around stuffing things in their pouch.

            It’s good to know that people are trying to come up with solutions to a scientific hoax that remains a theory.  The scientists and other people mentioned need to have something to work at.  If they didn’t have global warming or climate change to spend their time on they just might try something real and then we’d all be in serious trouble.

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