All-America City quilt on display at Grand Wayne Center

Press release from the City of Fort Wayne:

All-America City quilt on display at Grand Wayne Center
Exhibit traveling to award finalists’ communities

Mayor Tom Henry joined members of Fort Wayne’s winning All-America City delegation this morning at the Grand Wayne Center to welcome the National Civic League’s All-America City quilt to town.

The quilt will be on display from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. now through Thursday. It has 24 panels, each representing a community that was a finalist for the award. It is traveling across the country to the finalists’ locations.

“We are excited to have the All-America City quilt in Fort Wayne this week. I invite you to the Grand Wayne Center to see the diversity of communities across the country who vied for the award, not to mention being able to check out the free Holiday Houses for Habitat exhibit here in the Jefferson Boulevard hallway,” said Mayor Henry. “Although the quilt will only be here through Thursday, Fort Wayne’s All-America City spirit and attitude is on display throughout our city every day.”

Fort Wayne’s block has the All Together Now logo, which was the city’s theme for their winning bid earlier this year. Seamstress Julie Robinson stitched the block using satin fabric and an appliqué method. Fort Wayne-based ad agency One Lucky Guitar designed the logo; local designer Beth Heironimus designed the quilt block. Robinson and Heironimus attended today’s news conference.

In June, Fort Wayne was one of 10 communities across the country to win the National Civic League’s 2009 All-America City award in Tampa, Fla. The league recognized Fort Wayne for its efforts in assisting refugees and helping them integrate and succeed in the community, assisting children through the Great Kids Make Great Communities program, and efforts to raise funds to improve connectivity of the local trail network and create safer neighborhoods.