After the 9/11 tragedies of 2001, many artists depicted the towers or the Pentagon with poignant and heartfelt imagery. But, I don’t remember seeing any about Flight 93 plowing into a field in Pennsylvania. I began to wonder what that field would look like one year later? Would there be a big scar in the earth? Would the vegetation have grown back? These thoughts were the impetus for my quilt, A Field in Pennsylvania, One Year Later.
I put a black border around it to indicated mourning. But, I allowed one flower to reach past the border, thinking that perhaps one year later the nation would be beginning to heal.
Nestled among the vegetation I included a remnant of police tape.
AFTER stitching it to the quilt, I burnt the edges. I protected the rest of the quilt with aluminum foil and had a spray bottle of water at the ready. Risky stuff!
I don’t normally make quilts with any sort of social or news commentary, but with such a monumental event I found that ideas kept coming to my mind. The quilt WANTED to be made. However, I’m an optimist, so I wanted to focus on future healing, rather than dwelling on the initial tragedy.
I’m proud of this quilt. In part because it was a technical stretch for me at the time, but more for the narrative aspect of it. Isn’t it great that we can use our art to tell a story?
Ellen Lindner
This exhibit features work made by the Florida members of 
