SEPTEMBER 2013
SUNRAYS | 53
ONLINE:
SCTXCA.ORG
depicted scenes and designs, and could
be hung on walls. She sold most of her
quilts through her website or word of
mouth―some pieces even won awards.
Her first of six 9/11-themed quilts, which
would ultimately hang in an Iowa art
gallery to commemorate the 10th anni-
versary, is called “Deliver Us FromEvil.”
The quilt shows an American flag with
red stripes dripping, and a silhouette of
the NYC skyline and a twin-tower cross
rising in the middle. The second quilt in
the series, “Flames of Hatred,” shows
explosive orange flames against a pen-
tagonal backdrop.
The inspiration for the third, “Losing In-
nocence,” came from a phone call with her
daughter shortly after the attacks. She
asked her daughter how her six-year-old
grandson was coping. Her daughter said
the boy had only asked one question as
he tried to understand the disaster. He
asked about the rubble: “Is it taller than
a maple tree?” Susan’s quilt poses that
question, next to a depiction of rubble
that towers over a grove of trees.
The concept for the fourth quilt, “Vini,
Vidi,” came to her on her first sleepless
night in NYC as she compared the soft nurturing aspects of her heartland home
to the twisted remains of steel and con-
crete that was her current reality. It
consists of nine traditional quilt patches
connected by chains. On the patches are
the words “I came from the heartland to
the concrete canyons; I saw the power of
evil, the twist of steel; I wept for us all.”
“Don’t Worry, Be Happy” is the fifth
quilt, and uses Guatemalan worry dolls
that children place under their pillows at
night after telling their worries to them.
The next morning, so the story goes, all
their worries are gone. The colorful quilt
reflects the optimistic spirit of many
people Susan worked with, especially
one client who told others “Don’t worry
about the anthrax scare. Just be happy
that we are OK and alive.”
Susan completed the last of her 9/11
quilts for the 10th anniversary com-
memoration. “The Beat Goes On” shows
the shadows of the twin towers, along
with the lights of Broadway, a musical
score, and the names of the musicals that
were playing at that time:
The Lion King
,
Wicked
and
Chicago
, among others.
FULFILLED PROMISES
It is evident, even 12 years later, that
the memories, feelings and intensity of
that time have stayed with Susan, and
she has lived up to the promise she made
to herself in her journal at the time: “I
will be quicker to affirm the beauty of the
soul. I will be more responsive with both
laughter and tears shared with others. I
will celebrate diversity more than ever
before, for it has added a new texture to
my life. I will laugh more, wear brighter
colors and more hats. I will be even more
passionate about life than I have been
before. And I will hug more.”
Susan hopes to show her quilts at Sun
City’s November Arts & Crafts Fair and
is working to update her website for those
who are interested to know more about
her work. She can be contacted at susan.
“Don’t Worry Be Happy” is adorned with Guatemalan worry dolls. Although this quilt isn’t
Susan’s typical style, she felt compelled to create it, letting art and emotion drive her.
Susan created “And the Beat Goes On”
commemorating the 10th anniversary of
the attacks on September 11, 2001.
