Ruru - In Memoriam 9-11
 Appliqué Quilt by Ku Bailey
140cm x 110cm

Awards

1st Professional-Contemporary , Auckland Patchwork and Quilters' Guild (APQG) Calico Christmas Exhibition 2002

Best of Show, Auckland Patchwork and Quilters' Guild (APQG) Calico Christmas Exhibition 2002

NFS

This quilt depicts the New Zealand owl known as the ruru in Maori. The Maori believe that the spirits of the dead return to their spiritual homeland with the aid of a guide, here represented by the owl.

The inspiration for this quilt came from a dinnertime discussion of the pain that families and friends outside of the U.S. must have felt from having loved-ones lost in the events of September 11, 2001. In this quilt, Ku depicts the ruru carrying the souls of the departed in his tears back to their homelands.

Sewn into the quilt by the artist are the following words:

Do not weep
They took my bones but not my soul
Did you not sense my return as I glided by on silent wing.
I only rested awhile to thirst on shared tears which fueled me for the journey to that place beyond.
I did return.

Ku

Ruru - In Memoriam the Souls of 9-11