LEBANON — Bob Mullins wants Americans to continue the patriotism he saw after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Bob Mullins of Lebanon sits by the quilt he made to remember the people killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        That's why the 65-year-old Lebanon Schools maintenance worker spent eight weeks this winter making a large quilt in memory of the Americans who lost their lives last Sept. 11.

        ""Two weeks after the bombing, everybody seemed to have a flag on their car. Two to three months later there were no flags,” said Mr. Mullins, of Lebanon. ""This quilt is going to be my flag.”

        When he started work on the quilt in January, Mr. Mullins had no idea how large it would grow. He began with a 15 1/2-inch navy square and, using a sewing machine, embroidered the names of victims with white thread. It took him about six hours to complete each square.

        He kept adding squares. By the time he finished the quilt last month it had grown to about 8 1/2 square feet. The 36 squares are connected with alternating strips of red and white cloth. Dozens of victims' names fill each square. Altogether, there are more than 3,200 names on the quilt.

        “He does it one stitch at a time,” said Mr. Mullins' wife, Betty, who doesn't quilt. “I love quilts, but I'm not a person to sew. My mom always told me I had no patience.”

Quilter Bob Mullins finishes some trim on his memorial quilt. | ZOOM |

        Quilting is a hobby Mr. Mullins picked up about 10 years ago after visiting an uncle who quilted. Since then, he's made quilts for family members and donated one to be auctioned to benefit the schools in his hometown of Keokee, Va.

        This quilt, he said, won't be sold.

        He also completed a smaller quilt with 30 7 1/2-inch squares including just the names of the 340-plus firefighters who lost their lives at the Twin Towers. It will be sent to a New York ladder company.

        “It makes you kind of sad to see all the names in one place. I relate it to the Vietnam Memorial with all those names in one place,” said Ron Hurtt, a Vietnam veteran and director of maintenance at the Lebanon Schools. “I don't think I realized the magnitude until I saw all the names. I was very proud of Bob. He is very patriotic.”

        Mr. Mullins said when people see his quilt, many immediately start searching for a name of someone they knew or one of the people they saw on the news.

        “This one lady came back four times before she found the name she was looking for,” Mr. Mullins said. “It was a relief for her just to touch it. It really seemed to do her good.”

        Besides taking the quilt to each of the Lebanon schools, Mr. Mullins has displayed it at Towne Mall, local stores and at a Lebanon council meeting. It will be on display during the city's bicentennial celebration. Plans are in the works to have it shown in June at Hamilton's Fitton Center for Creative Arts.
       

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