Stolen Lives

October 2001, 28" high by 18" wide, $900
Copyright © 2001, Maria Elkins, All Rights Reserved.

I watched in horror, over and over again, throughout the day, as the two airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

I was heartsick. Awful feelings swept over me: dismay, disbelief, revulsion, shock, grief. I kept thinking about all the people in those buildings and on those airplanes. How could anyone do that to another human being?

The image of the towers as two people filled my mind and wouldn't leave; symbols of the lives that were callously snatched away, leaving behind families with a gaping holes.

The flag in the background was printed in four pieces and then sewn together. I printed directly onto the fabric using a color inkjet printer. The clouds of smoke and fire were sponge painted using Setacolor textile paint. The date was hand lettered using Setacolor textile paint. The Twin Tower images of the man and woman were drawn directly onto fabric using Sakura Pigma pens. The towers and buildings were fused onto the background and quilted with invisible thread.

• Published in "Hawaiian Quilt Inspirations: A Journal of Life" by Patricia Lei Murray, page 27-28.
• Traveled with the America: From the Heart traveling exhibit (http://www.quilts.com/PRAFHtour.htm) through September 2004.
• Published in the America from the Heart book, C&T Publishing Inc. (http://www.ctpub.com/)
• Published in the April 2002 issue of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine (http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/qnm/), No. 341, page 51.
• Displayed in the "America: From the Heart" memorial exhibit at the International Quilt Festival (http://www.quilts.org/) in Houston, Texas, October 31 through November 4, 2001.

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Last updated November 29, 2006.