Founders Memorial Library and the community are crafting a king-size quilt in memory of the victims of the Feb. 14 shootings.

NIU community members, staff, faculty and students can come to the library’s information desk and pick up a red, white or black fabric square and create a design or a tribute, said Rebecca Martin, librarian, head of access services and chair of the quilt committee.

Two hundred eighty-eight squares will be given out until Tuesday, April 8. The fabric squares need to be returned by April 30.

Martin hopes the quilt will inspire strength in the NIU community.

“Quilts tell the story of a community and bring people together and provide comfort,” she said. “People in the community come out and express our NIU story.”

Quilters from the committee will sew the fabric pieces together and the finished product will be displayed permanently in the library.

Stacey Bivens, library specialist for collections maintenance unit and quilter for the committee, said the making of the quilt will provide honor for the community.

“I think it’s a beautiful way to memorialize the students we lost on Feb. 14, to honor the law enforcement officers, fire departments and paramedics who responded that day and to help us remember the many positive things about NIU,” Bivens said.

Sherry Lee Patterson, library specialist for reserve processing and quilter for the committee, said quilts have a way of expressing healing through art.

“I think it is a way to include people of various backgrounds, talents and connections to have input in a lasting, time-honored manner of expression,” Patterson said.

The squares are expected to be given out quickly, so