NILES CHARTER TOWNSHIP — A quilt project featuring 2,750 blocks of red, white and blue star patterns has made a man leave the room crying. It has made a woman find solace with the loss of a loved one. It has allowed two boys to understand a history they were born after.

These are some of the stories Beverly Kuemin told about the 9/11 WTC Memorial Quilt Project, which will be on display from Thursday, Sept. 19 to Sunday, Sept. 22 at Community Free Church, 120 E. Bertrand Road in Niles Charter Township at no cost to the public.

Kuemin said the project elicits one general response from those who see it: awe.

The quilt project was created by Amy Sue Leasure, who, after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, decided to create quilts dedicated to those who died.

She set up a website to find help and donations. Over the following months, 20,000 blocks of 12-inch red, white and blue quilt squares with star patterns were donated across 30 nations.

Leasure died in 2002, but Brian Kohler finished the project by 9/11’s third anniversary.

Some blocks were donated to first responders or given to charities, but 2,750 were turned into 300 panels and are now displayed at exhibits across the U.S.

Kuemin, of Niles, inherited the panels and its parent nonprofit, Sew We Never Forget, in 2014. She said she met Kohler once, and he asked her if she wanted to take over. She said yes.

Kuemin had donated a block herself, and she said she was struck by the “awesome” presence of the display it was in. She wants to share the feeling she felt with others.

“It’s a healing process,” she said. “A lot of people totally appreciate it.”

Sew We Never Forget runs a database of all 2,977 victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. Each victim is represented in the quilt project.

At the upcoming Niles display, people can request to see a block that memorializes a particular victim. Kuemin will search the name in the database, then guide the person to the particular block.

It is an offering that Judy Rice, of Niles, especially appreciates. She volunteers with Sew We Never Forget.

Rice said the story behind the memorial quilt project was moving enough, but seeing the display in person was even more so.

“The story was really inspiring,” she said. “I was envisioning what [Kuemin] was talking about, but when I actually got to go and see it, it’s just indescribable.”

Kuemin and Rice are working to coordinate with area school districts to bring students to the display. Rice noted that few students now were alive when the Sept. 11 attacks occurred, let alone understand.

She said the quilt project could help children understand and process the 18-year-old event.

“That’s probably going to be something that teachers might appreciate the opportunity to take children to,” she said.

The display at Community Free Church will be accessible during the following times: noon to 7 p.m. Sept. 19, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 20 and 21 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 22.

After the memorial quilt project’s stop in Niles, Sew We Never Forget will display it in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Scottsdale, Arizona.