Los Lunas
Family School students in Los Lunas recently displayed a positive response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the form of a red, white and blue work of art.
A total of 24 fifth- and sixth-graders from the Family School at Raymond Gabaldon Intermediate created their own personalized cloth blocks for a patriotic and colorful quilt that will be shown throughout the nation.
Late last year, the class joined kids across the country when they sent their blocks to the American Quilters Society as a positive statement of hope. The students’ sole wish was that their blocks would stay together in one quilt.
“Some of the kids have never touched a sewing machine before,” said Family School Teacher Kathy Marble. “This was their project, their chance to make a difference. In fact, they brought in all their own fabrics.”
Jeannie Spears, a former editor of the AQS magazine, put bold blue borders around the blocks and white stars along the quilt’s edge before sending a photograph of the finished piece to the eager students.
Spears and her husband, Marv, were on their way from their home in Colorado to a quilting show in Phoenix and decided to stop in Los Lunas to show the kids their blocks inside the unique quilt.
“I had no idea where Los Lunas was, but I wanted to stop and see if the kids would be there,” Spears said with a smile. “It was wonderful to see their faces light up when they saw the quilt.”
All of the money raised will go to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. “It really touches my heart to see these kids work so hard,” said mother Lorri Gast.
Some of the quilts could be auctioned off at a later date, and the Los Lunas quilt may be displayed at a national quilt show in Kentucky where 40,000 onlookers may see it.
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April 18, 2024
