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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 19, 2005 Young woman’s senior project honors fallen soldiers By CHRIS CONRAD Mail Tribune Sigorney Zallen admits she couldn’t sew a straight line to save her life. This fact did little to dissuade officials from displaying the quilt she made in honor of fallen Oregon soldiers in the Veteran’s Memorial Building in Salem. While other seniors at North Medford High School explored subjects such as skydiving and classic cars for their senior projects, Zallen, 18, opted for a more controversial — and sobering — assignment. She was inspired last winter by an evening news report about people who painted the portraits of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. The faces of the young men in the portraits intrigued her. She wanted her senior project to pack a similar visceral punch. "I decided to do a quilt, because I can’t draw," she said. A few possible snares in her plan quickly came to light, not the least of which being she had never quilted before. Advertisement She found a mentor in her aunt, who lives in California. Zallen spent her Christmas break at her aunt’s house, working up to ten hours a day to finish the quilt. Her aunt helped her organize the images she wanted to use. Together they sketched their ideas on paper, deciding on the quilt’s layout and design. They printed the soldiers’ pictures off Web sites and pressed them onto fabric. "All of the men listed on the quilt died between the years 2002 and 2004," Zallen said. At night, Zallen said, she and her aunt would watch the news to see if they needed to set aside space on the quilt for another unlucky soldier. They never did. The women logged 50 hours of work on the quilt. At times, Zallen wondered if they would finish before school started. "I was like, ‘This is going to be easy,’ but I was shocked," she said. "Trying to sew straight is miserable." The quilt finally came together, with help from several disparate areas of the Medford community. Zallen recalls repeated trips to fabric and military surplus stores, the latter advising her to pin a Purple Heart and sew patches from each military branch on the quilt. The quilt is deceptively simple in its design, but is layered in symbol and meaning. The ultra-patriotic red, white and blue border at first seems overpowering. But the bright colors recede when your eyes meet those of the 31 soldiers staring back at you. The photographs are varied. Some show hard-eyed men — fresh from boot camp — clad in pressed Marine dress blues. Others are smiling snapshots of civilian life — senior pictures, graduation photos — taken perhaps days before the man was sent to basic training. The majority of the pictures share two traits: youth and confidence. Zallen is quick to point out that the center of the quilt is of great importance to her. The pattern on which the patches are sewn shows peace doves taking flight. The project landed Zallen an "A" for the term, and the approval of officials from the Veteran’s Administration, who want the quilt to hang in their building in Salem. The quilt will be auctioned off once it goes on display. The proceeds will go to the proposed Afghan-Iraqi Freedom War Memorial, which will be at the Capitol Mall in Salem. The memorial was conceived by the family of Erik Kesterson, who was killed in action, along with 16 other soldiers, near Mosul in Nov. 2003. His is one of the faces immortalized on the quilt. Zallen, who is set to begin her first term at Portland State University, said the project was her greatest high school accomplishment. "Because it was for a cause I stuck with it," she said. "If I was doing it for a hobby, I wouldn’t have finished it." Reach reporting intern Chris Conrad at 776-4471, or e-mail Young woman�s senior project honors fallen soldiers ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy online casino Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Investments & Loans Advertisement s