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Subject Areas |
Art and Culture
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Folklore |
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Visual Arts |
History and Social Studies
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U.S. History - African-American |
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U.S. History - The West |
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U.S. History - Women's Rights/History |
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Time Required |
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Time required will vary depending on how much time is spent designing quilt squares
Lesson 1: one class period or less
Lesson 2: one class period
Lesson 3: one class period
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Skills |
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recognition of colors, shapes and patterns
primary document analysis
graphic design
collaboration
presentation skills
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Additional Data |
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Date Created: 05/21/02 |
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History in Quilts
We Americans have adopted quilts as a symbol of what we value about
ourselves and our national history.
--From "Speaking of Quilts: Voices
from the Late Twentieth Century" by Laurel Horton IntroductionThroughout
history, women and sometimes men have used the art of quilting for many diverse
purposes: to keep warm, to decorate their homes, to express their political views,
to remember a loved one. Made by hand—often collaboratively—using familiar materials
such as scraps of clothing, quilts are personal and communal, aesthetic and functional.
The lessons in this unit are designed to help your students recognize how people
of different cultures and time periods have used cloth-based art forms to pass
down their traditions and history. Quilting continues
to be largely a home-based form of art engaged in primarily by women. Heighten
your students' awareness of how quilts have reflected and continue to reflect
the lives of the people who create them, and of how quilts record the cultural
history of a particular place and time. This theme of History in Quilts contains
two separate lessons that can stand alone or be taught in conjunction with one
another. If your students explore the past through their
own family history and ancestors, this unit could be used as a tool to focus on
those aspects of your curriculum. Learning Objectives
After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to:
- Define what a quilt is and describe some of the historic
purposes and uses of quilts.
- Explain what
a freedom quilt is and how this type of quilt was used historically in the U.S.
- Explain
what a patriotic quilt is and what types of symbols are used in this type of quilt.
- Identify
elements in quilts, such as colors, shapes, patterns, and symbols.
- Discuss
customs represented by the design and creation of quilts.
- Understand
how quilts can be objects of both everyday use and artistic expression.
Guiding
Question:What is a quilt? What elements make up a quilt?
How are art and history connected through quilts? What are some of the purposes
and uses that quilts have served in different places and cultures in the past?
What function do quilts have today? Preparing to Teach this Lesson-
Review each lesson and select archival materials you'd like
to use in class. Bookmark these materials, along with useful websites, if possible;
download and print out selected documents and duplicate copies as necessary for
student viewing. Prepare any necessary templates.
- Establish
an anticipatory set when beginning each lesson on quilts. Read aloud any of the
books recommended below, display an actual quilt, or invite a local quilter to
demonstrate. Encourage students who own quilts to share them with the class. However,
because quilts can be valuable family heirlooms, exercise care in allowing students
to touch and work with quilts brought from home. Sharing quilts offers a good
opportunity for parents to come to class to share family stories and to help monitor
appropriate handling of quilts.
- An
interesting account of a quilting bee and the accompanying festivities, written
by Mary Eleanor
Wilkins Freeman, may be found on the American Studies @ The University of
Virginia website, a link from the EDSITEment resource Center
for the Liberal Arts. Though of most interest to the teacher, excerpts may
be adapted for use with students.
-
Historical quilts often feature familiar U.S. symbols such as the flag. Refer
to the EDSITEment lesson plan Stars
and Stripes Forever: Flag Facts for Flag Day, a unit on the American flag
for grades K-2, and Oh,
Say, Can You See What the Star-Spangled Banner Really Means?, a unit on the
flag for grades 3-5.
- If possible,
obtain the book The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950,
by Roderick Kiracofe, Mary Elizabeth Johnson (contributor), and Sharon Reisendorph
(photographer) (Clarkson Potter, 1993; ISBN 0517575353), which contains many large
photos of quilts of every kind.
- Quilts
and other cloth-based narrative art are used to record and preserve history in
many countries and cultures. As a wrap-up activity, teachers can introduce narrative
fabric art from different countries and ask students to compare the formal elements
as well as the historical purposes with those of quilts from the U.S. Examples
include:
- Hmong
Storycloths: The Hmong and the Storycloth: How Traditions and Cultures Are Transmitted
Through Folklore and Art, available from the EDSITEment resource AskAsia:
"The Hmong did not have any previous written language until thirty-five
years ago when Christian missionaries standardized and romanized the Hmong language.
Previously, all of their communication was oral and/or pictorial. Many of the
oral history traditions have been transcribed pictorially on a storycloth known
as pa'ndau. The pa'ndau, composed of applique, cross-stitches, batik, and embroidery,
incorporates Hmong personal family history, village life, the death and disturbance
of war and emigration, and life in a new land. Pa'ndau, as an art form, reflects
how the medium of an old tradition is also used to tell a more modern story of
Hmong history and culture" (from "Brief
History of Hmong and the Storycloth Tradition," available through the EDSITEment-reviewed
website AskAsia).
- African
Kente cloth: the lesson plans: Fabric
patterns/African Peoples and Textiles
Convey Meaning Through the Use of Pattern and Color, both available from the
EDSITEment resource Art and Life in
Africa. Information on the history and meanings of Kente cloth is located
on the Index on Africa:
Ghana website at History
and Significance of Ghana's Kente Cloth, available through the EDSITEment-reviewed
website African Studies
WWW.
- Latin American arpilleras
(wall hangings made of cloth pictures that tell a story): Arpilleras have
also been used to chronicle political injustices in various Latin American countries.
Two books with pictures and descriptions of arpilleras are available at
LILAS Outreach K-12 and Community
Resource Library (Chile - Children's Literature and Holidays
and Celebrations - Children's Literature found through the EDSITEment-reviewed
website Latin American Network Information
Center (LANIC):
- Festivals
of the World: Chile by Gareth Stevens Publishing, Milwaukee, Wisc., 1998.
32 pp. (Grades 1-4) This book introduces Chile, its festival calendar, and its
specific festival rituals. It includes craft projects to make an arpillera.
- Tonight Is Carnaval by Arthur Dorros. Puffin
Unicorn Books, Penguin Books, USA Inc., New York, 1991. (Grades 1-4) This is a
story illustrated with photographs of arpilleras created by the Club de
Madres Virgen del Carmen of Lima, Peru.
Suggested
ActivitiesLesson 1: An Introduction
to Historical Quilts
Lesson 2: Patriotic Quilts Extending
the Lesson Lesson 1 An Introduction
to Historical Quilts If possible, center this lesson around
one or more authentic quilts in the classroom, to give students the opportunity
to see how a quilt is constructed (the stitching, squares, stuffing and so on).
How is a quilt different from a blanket? It is like two blankets sewn together
with padding in between. The stitching that keeps the padding in place creates
a pattern that invites further decoration. This decoration can employ elements
such as color, pattern, symbols, and narrative. If it proves
impractical to bring a quilt into class, use Quilt
Image #21, available online via a link from the EDSITEment resource Center
for the Liberal Arts, or images from one of the recommended books. Ask
the class if anyone has a quilt at home. Encourage some discussion about those
quilts. How are they used? Do any of the students use a quilt as a blanket or
have a quilt hanging on the wall at home? Show students the quilt(s) or quilt
image(s), and have them describe what they see: How many different kinds of cloth
are in the quilt? Do they see some of the same cloth in different places on the
quilt? What colors have been used? Are there objects on the quilt -- people, animals,
flowers, baskets, etc.? How many? Where does the quilt feel thicker and thinner?
Where are stitches located? Without telling students the
names of each quilt, display several different kinds of quilts or quilt images
as described below, available on The
American History Museum of the Smithsonian, a link from the EDSITEment resource
Center for the Liberal
Arts (unless otherwise noted): As
you show each quilt, ask the students to describe what they see. Have them describe
the patterns and objects on each quilt, suggest why each quilt was made, and hypothesize
about what kind of story the artist was telling with the pictures on the quilt. Provide
students with the following chart and have them match the letter of each quilt
to its appropriate type, or set up one large chart for the class and ask for volunteers
to write the letter of the quilt that matches the quilt type:
Lesson 2 Patriotic Quilts National symbols such as stars, stripes
and eagles were used in American quilts throughout the 19th century. Look
at the following quilts (and especially the photograph of the details from the
quilts), available on The
American History Museum of the Smithsonian, a link from the EDSITEment resource
Center for the Liberal
Arts. What images do students recognize?
Some
quilt designs are created through repetition of a pattern. Show the class Quilt
Image #24, available online via a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website
Center for the Liberal
Arts. What patterns do the students see? How many times does the pattern in
the center repeat? The pattern on the border? Students can
create a patriotic quilt based on this pattern, using five large image blocks
as a centerpiece, surrounded by a border. Give students templates with pictures
of national symbols. (Note: Download
the PDF containing templates of several patriotic symbols is provided with this
lesson. To view PDF, download the Adobe
Acrobat Reader.) Allow students to color in the symbols any way they want.
Once all the squares are done, gather the class. Now, together the students can
create a patriotic quilt. Decide how the center symbols will be organized, and
paste them onto a large sheet of paper or attach them to a bulletin board. Allow
students to add a border around the edge of the quilt, like the one in the example.
In classes where students are assigned to research and/or write about a national
symbol, this activity could initiate that project. If desired,
end the lesson by comparing the quilt squares designed by the students to Quilt
Image #45, available via a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Center
for the Liberal Arts. This contemporary quilt records the celebration of the
American Bicentennial. Which symbols are used in both this quilt and the students'
squares? An additional patriotic quilt, Proud
to Be an American: 1992 1st Place National Winner, may be viewed on the EDSITEment
resource American Memory. This is a kind
of patriotic quilt, showing what's important to the quilt's creator. What did
she consider important? What symbols are used in the quilt? How? Extending
the Lesson - Invite a quilter to your classroom.
- Invite family members of students to bring their quilts
to class for "show and tell." Where quilting is still a tradition, students can
also conduct interviews about quilts in their homes.
-
Study cross-cultural connections regarding quilting using quilts from other countries
or cultures. One example is the European- and African-influenced quilts on Southern
Quilting Traditions, a link from the EDSITEment resource Center
for the Liberal Arts.
- Use the
book The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco to introduce an activity in
which students make a 'keeping quilt' and hang it in the school. Read aloud from
The Keeping Quilt, and then ask students to write about a memory. For younger
grades, the children can talk about their memories, and the teacher can write
down a list of memories on the board. After writing/talking about their memories,
each student should draw a picture related to that memory. The picture is then
traced onto vellum paper and colored with fabric crayons, along with the child's
name. Finally, the drawings are ironed onto a large piece of material that can
be stuffed and backed as a 'keeping quilt' for the school.
- In some communities, quilting clubs can assist with
classroom projects. Such a group may be able to help your students create a real
quilt. A discussion of quilt making in the classroom as well as helpful tips can
be found at America
Quilts: Quilts in the Classroom, available through a link from the EDSITEment
resource Africans in America.
- Through the EDSITEment-reviewed website American
Memory, students can view many additional images of contemporary quilts. Each
of the images is accompanied by the artist's explanation of the process involved
in the making of the quilt, as well as the quilt's meaning. This collection also
includes a glossary of quilting terms that could be useful for understanding how
a quilt is assembled.
- 59
Hoover Schools, a special section of the EDSITEment resource Digital
Classroom, features a quilt from the Hoover Presidential Library, depicting
the 59 schools named for Herbert Hoover. Your class might be interested in viewing
these student-made quilts, and might also like to design a quilt square for their
school. Perhaps there are other schools around the nation with the same name as
your school.
Selected EDSITEment WebsitesAfricans
in America
American
Memory
Quilts
and Quiltmaking in America 1978-1998
American
Studies at the University of Virginia
Cultural
Objects: An Anthology of American Studies, Vol. II: Spring 1996
At
Home in the Heartland Online
Center
for the Liberal Arts
The
American History Museum of the Smithsonian
The
Digital Classroom National Archives and Records Administration
59
Hoover Schools
The
Internet Public Library
National
Park Service: Links to the Past
Smithsonian
Art Museum
Whole Cloth
Women
of the West Museum
Collaborations:
Drawn Together -- go to main site, then: "Collaborations: Drawn Together"
-- "Exhibits" -- "Quilts"
Other Resources: The
recent film "How to Make an American Quilt" (1995), based on Whitney Otto's novel
of the same name, has several scenes of women sitting together to stitch a quilt.
Students might gain a visual image of what is involved in quilting by viewing
brief clips from that film. Recommended reading
from American Memory (http://memory.loc.gov) - Brial,
Raymond. With Needle and Thread. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.
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Coerr, Eleanor. The Josafina Story Quilt. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
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Lyons, Mary. Stitching Stars: The Story Quilts of Harriet Powers. New York:
Aladdin Paperbacks, 1997.
From Women
of the West Museum - Turner, Ann. Sewing
Quilts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1994. Illus. by Thomas B.
Allen. "Pioneer girl sees pieces of her life sewn into quilts that she, her mother
and sister create."
From The
New York Public Library On-Lion for Kids, a link from Internet
Public Library - Flournoy, Valerie.
The Patchwork Quilt. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney. Dial Books, 1985 (ISBN
803700989). "Using scraps cut from the family's old clothing, Tanya helps her
grandmother and mother make a beautiful quilt that tells the story of her family's
life."
Other recommendations: -
Guback, Georgia. Luka's Quilt. (Reading level: Ages 4-7)
- Hines,
Anna Grossnickle. Pieces: A Year in Poems & Quilts.
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Johnston, Tony and Tomie DePaola. The Quilt Story.
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Jonas, Ann. The Quilt. (Reading level: Ages 4-8)
- Paul,
Ann Whitford and Jeanette Winter (Illustrator). Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork
Alphabet.
- Polacco, Patricia. The
Keeping Quilt. School & Library Binding, 1994. (Reading level: Ages 4-8)
- Ringgold,
Faith. Tar Beach.
Other Information
Standards Alignment
- NAES-VisArts(K-4) 4
Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures
- NCTE/IRA-1
Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works. more
- NGS-1
How to Use Maps and Other Geographic Representations, Tools, and Technologies to Acquire, Process, and Report Information from a Spatial Perspective
- NGS-4
The Physical and Human Characteristics of Places
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