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Amy's Page
 

Amy Sue Leasure
March 10, 1970 - July 27, 2002
Updated September 11, 2004
     Immediately after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Amy Sue Leasure, an avid quilter, mother and police dispatcher from Prescott Valley, AZ., decided to create quilts dedicated to those who lost their lives in the attacks.
     She set up a Web site and asked for donations of 12-inch, red, white and blue quilt squares in a star pattern with the intention that there would be a star for every victim. The squares were to be sewn into panels consisting of 25 squares, and 300 panels would be constructed to build the quilt. This meant that she would need 7,500 squares. 
Amy received almost 20,000 squares from more than 30 countries!
     Amy Sue Leasure died of cancer in 2002, and the project was put on hold. In January 2004, her family asked Brian Kohler to take over the project.  Mr. Kohler said, “Amy’s husband delivered the quilt to Seattle, and I am now working with the help of volunteers on the many tasks necessary to complete the project.”  Brian began his work with the quilt by assembling and quilting several of the main quilt panels, and now heads up the national project.  “I didn’t lose anyone in the attacks,” he says, “but I needed a tangible way to process my feelings and emotions. The quilt has helped me and many others do that.”  This project has become a symbol of peace, healing and remembrance.
Amy’s vision was for the quilt to go on a national tour and become part of a permanent exhibit in a museum, hopefully in New York City.
When workers on the WTC Memorial Quilt learned of Amy's illness, a hurried effort to create a healing quilt was begun.  Within days, blocks were created to reflect Amy's favorite color of purple, her collection of cow motifs and other phases of her life.  Sadly, she left us before the quilt could be completed and it became a Memory Quilt for her family.

Margo Rose designed a paper piecing block for the quilt called "Stars For Amy".  In the hope that Amy's good works and her memory will continue, the block is offered as a free download to any quilter involved in a charity or healing project.  There are no copyright exclusions on this design -- copies may be made and distributed freely for the purpose of sharing Amy's goals, hopes and dreams.
"Sew that we will never forget you!"
In 2004, Mr. Brian Kohler undertook the immense task of completing
Amy's Vision: The Worlds Trade Center Memorial Quilt
 Please check that web site for details on the completion of Amy's Vision and if you have information or want to help, contact Mr. Kohler.
Download "Stars For Amy" PDF Here! The WTC Memorial Quilt Web Site
A Special Spotlight From Future Heirlooms

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Pat has extended the deadline for Amy's blocks.   The orignial date was 
August 5th.  You now have another two weeks to complete and send in your 
block for Amy's memory quilt.  The new deadline date is August 19th.  Here 
are the guidelines again.
 

1--9.5 inch UNFINISHED blocks...Any pattern
2--Jewel Tones but please try to put purple or violet in your block. These 
are Amy's and her daughter's favorite colors.
3--Fabric must be prewashed, colorfast and 100% cotton
4--Sign your block with your name and state in pernament pigma pen. Please 
stay away from the 1/4 inch seam allowance when signing your block.
5--You are welcome to include any get well wishes for Amy with your block and 
we will include them with the quilt.
6--Please mail your block to Pat at:
Patricia Fratis
1263 Kerney St. 
Santa Rosa, Ca. 95401

I would like to thank all the quilters who have expressed an interested in 
quilting Amy's quilt.  Karen Demaree was the first quilter who responded so 
she will be our longarm quilter.  Karen completed several of the memorial 
panels and who managed to compete almost all of our center  honor blocks. 
Thank you so much for your support. And thank you Pat for making Amy's quilt 
possible by putting the blocks together. 

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Yavapai County Sheriff's Office
G.C. "Buck" Buchanan, Sheriff
255 E. Gurley St. 
Prescott, AZ 86301
(520) 771-3275
FAX (520) 771-3294
To:                  All News Media
From:              Sharon Wachter, Public Information Officer 
Date:               August 7, 2002

Subject:           Co-Founder of the WTC Memorial Quilt & YCSO Dispatcher passed away on Saturday, July 27, 2002

A Yavapai County Sheriff's Office Dispatcher received National attention for an idea to create and circulate a World Trade Center Memorial Quilt in remembrance of those who died in the attack on September 11th.   The quilt project has become an International success and when completed it will be larger than the size of a football field.  Tragically, Amy lost her own life due to medical complications. Amy Sue Leasure was 32 years old when she died on Saturday, July 27, 2002, and is survived by her loving husband, Michael, and beautiful 3 year-old daughter, Ashley. 

Before her passing Amy's husband and family reassured her that the quilt project would be completed.  They are hoping that the public will step forward in effort to help her dream come true. For more information on the quilt and how you can help you can visit the quilt's website at www.wtcmemorialquilt.com. 

Amy’s memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 17, 2002, at 1:00 p.m. at the Calvary Chapel of Prescott. 

As a result of Amy's four-month battle with her illness her family now faces the responsibility of dealing with the staggering medical bills.  The “Amy Leasure Memorial Fund” has been established at the Wells Fargo Bank in the Safeway shopping center in Prescott Valley to help her family in recovering.  Contributions can be made directly to the fund at the Wells Fargo Bank account # 0484191655, routing # 122105278 or they can be sent to the “Amy Leasure Memorial Fund” C/O Calvary Chapel of Prescott.  Attn: Dale Fricke 694 Sunrise Blvd. Prescott, AZ. 86301. 

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From Teresa:  Coordinator For The WTC Memorial Quilt
I am so sorry but we lost Amy at 12:47 PM on July 27.   Amy's mother said 
that her body could no longer tolerate the infection and antibotics.  Family 
was with her until  the end and they are grateful that she is no longer 
suffering.   I am still in shock but would like everyone to know that Amy's 
husband,  mother and mother-in-law assured Amy that they would do whatever 
possible to complete this project. 

I am here to do whatever possible to help Amy's family and friends in Arizona 
complete the WTC project.   I am glad purple ribbons were chosen for the 
memorial quilt. Everytime I think about the quilts or see the purple I will 
think of Amy since purple was her favorite color. We were in the midst of 
planning a healing quilt for Amy.  We will continue with this quilt and it 
will be quilted in memory of Amy for her family.   We are requesting quilt 
blocks with purple in them.

I also have a WTC log cabin quilt top Amy had sent to me already assembled. 
This quilt top was sent to me when Amy mailed me the over 5,000 quilt blocks 
that were to be sorted and mailed to our quilting volunteers.  This quilt is 
at my friends house getting quilted and was to be used as one of the WTC 
quilts.  Amy told me on the phone how special it was and how much she liked 
it.   I would like to send this quilt to Amy's family once it is finished as 
a rememberance of the project and for all of Amy's hard work. 

I am in the process of writing up everything I know about the quilts and the 
project.  I will be sending this information onto Amy's family along with all 
the files I had from Amy so they can go through and learn about the details 
of the project.  I am sure there will be many volunteers in Arizona helping 
them also.  Together we will complete this project for Amy and for the 
families of the 9-11 victims.

Our thoughts and prayers are with  Amy's family at this time.  I will post to 
our list updates about the project very soon or keep checking our web page at 
www.wtcmemorialquilt.com.
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In a message dated 7/27/02 4:21:41 PM Pacific Daylight Time
 

 I am so sorry to tell you that Amy has passed away today at 12:47pm....her body could no longer tolerate the infection and antibotics......I thank God that her father and I could be with her as she walked into the light and recieved her wings....We must all be glad that Amy is no longer suffering 
 and with Jesus! We all reassured Amy before her passing that the quilt project will be completed, so her husband Michael and his mother and myself will be working diligently towards completing this for Amy! We will be needing as much help as we can get (and advice) so please let us know what 
 you can do to help!! God bless you all; Amy will be watching over us all!

 Love, Cecelia Caston (Amy Leasure's mother
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Amy is in a need of a lot of prayers from us fellow quilters.  Along with our prayers we will be working on a healing quilt for her.   Pat Fratis has offered to collect the quilt blocks and sew them together into the quilt. Kelly Brennen has offered to supply the backing and batting for the quilt. 
We need a longarm volunteer to do the quilting for Amy' quilt.   We need a longarm quilter  who can complete the quilt within a week so we can get it to Amy ASAP. We have placed a deadline of August 5th for the quilt blocks to sent to Pat.  This is our healing quilt for Amy so we need to get it to the hospital as soon as possible.  We hope our quilt will pass on our strength to Amy in her fight against this cancer.

Here are the guidelines:

1--9.5 inch UNFINISHED blocks
2--Jewel Tones but please try to put purple or violet in your block.  These 
are Amy's and her daughter's favorite colors.
3--Fabric must be prewashed, colorfast and 100% cotton
4--Sign your block with your name and state in pernament pigma pen.  Please 
stay away from the 1/4 inch seam allowance when signing your block.
5--You are welcome to include any get well wishes for Amy with your block and 
we will include them with the quilt.
6--Please mail your block to Pat at:
Patricia Fratis
1263 Kerney St. 
Santa Rosa, Ca.  95401

Please e-mail me at trequilts@aol.com if you are a longarm quilter who is 
able to complete the quilt within a week of receiving it in the mail and is 
able to mail it directly to the hospital. 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.

Hugs,
Teresa

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Hello.  My name is Mike.  I am Amy's husband.  Many of you have been wondering about my wife's health, and I wanted to let you know what has happened.

Amy was transferred to the Mayo Hospital in Phoenix, AZ on Monday in hopes of getting her better care and getting to the root of what made her so sick.  On Tuesday afternoon, her batallion (yes, that many!) of doctors finally determined that there is a tumor down near the small intestine that is wrapped around a network of blood vessels that feed the major organs.  This is what has made her so sick for so long, and it is obviously the reason why she has not been getting better.

Initially, the doctors were very doubtful about Amy's chances.  However, yesterday they came back and advised us that this is a type of tumor that is treatable with chemotherapy, and they are now going to do everything in their powers to save Amy.  There are no guarantees when dealing with something like cancer, but the doctors' optimism is contagious, and now we can all have some hope.

Amy knows that so many of you have kept her in your thoughts.  Although she is very weak, I was able to talk to her about some things yesterday.  We want you to know that Amy, me, and our daughter Ashley feel the strength of your love, and we know you are thinking about us.  We ask for your continued prayers; miracles do happen.

Our warmest thanks,
Amy, Michael, & Ashley

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25-Jul-2002

This is Mike again--Amy's husband.

To all those who have prayed and/or sent a card to Amy, please know that our families love you, and know that Amy has received your wishes.  We now have Amy in the Mayo Hospital in Phoenix, AZ.  She was not getting any better at the hospital in our home town, and we decided that something different had to be done.  Fortunately, we now have some answers.

In less than 24 hours, the battalion (yes, that many!) of doctors at the Mayo Hospital found a tumor.  I do not profess to understand this stuff very well, but the tumor is located somewhere near the small intestine.  It is wrapped around a network of blood vessels that supply the major organs.  This is the reason that Amy has become so infected, and it is also the reason why she hasn't been getting any better.  Her family is understandably frustrated that the other hospitals never detected this in light of the vast number of CAT scans and ERCP procedures that were previously done on her.  The doctors at Mayo did say, however, that they just barely saw it, and these things are not always easy to see, so we will have to be satisfied with this for now.

If I had written this two days ago, I would have been telling you that the outlook was very grim.  Her doctors originally thought that this was a tumor that could not be treated.  But unexpectedly, the biopsy came back identifying the tumor as a lymphoma, a tumor that CAN be treated with chemotherapy.  So in 24 hours I have gone from a situation where I was telling my wife goodbye to a situation where there is at least some hope.  There are never any guarantees with cancer, but these doctors are now saying they are optimistic, and we are going to let them do everything in their power to save Amy.  While I have always believed in God, I am only now starting to realize that miracles can happen.  Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers.

I would like to restate that all the packages that were sent to Amy at our home in Arizona are safe and intact.  Given the nature of Amy's illness, I am going to be working with members of the WTC project to continue what Amy was doing, in hopes of getting the project done soon.  We have Amy's blessing to see that her vision reaches completion, and I have promised her that it will be done...no matter what happens.  Please continue to monitor the WTC Quilt site for updates, and thank you again.

Amy, Michael & Ashley

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