Pre-Visit Activity: Art Talk

Please view the two reproductions with your class and lead a discussion using the following questions as guidelines. There are no “right” answers. The questions are meant to guide the group discussion. Students will revisit and discuss the original works at BAM. The vocabulary in this packet will aid discussion.

 Research and experience have shown that students feel more comfortable when they can connect with something familiar once they arrive at the Museum. The students are excited to find “their” works of art while they are at BAM. They enjoy sharing their insights from the classroom discussion with the docent and making valuable comparisons between the textbook-like reproductions and the original works of art.

Historical Quilts

This tour focuses on traditional patterns seen in historical quilts from the collection of the Idaho Historical Museum and the history of the quilts and quilting in Idaho. Quilts from the exhibition Patchwork: Historical Quilts originated in various parts of the United States and they range in age from the early 1800’s to the mid-twentieth century. Throughout American history, quilts have been created not only to satisfy the basic human needs of warmth and comfort, but to beautify people’s surroundings. Mostly considered a domestic responsibility of women, quilt-making provided an opportunity for creative expression and social interaction. Even though pattern outlines were repeatedly used, quilters interpreted each design differently and incorporated their own individual style and color preferences.

Vocabulary
Historical Quilts

Curricular Connections
Constructing Curriculum with Historical Quilts

Social Studies, History, Geography

• The quilts in the exhibition came from all over the state of Idaho. Have students break into groups and each research the history of a different town in Idaho. Have each group present their research to the class about what they learned.
• Quilting was a way for women to socialize and pass on family traditions. As a class, discuss how women’s lives have changed from the 19 th to the 21 st century. Also discuss the different roles women have played in their families and society. Have students research women’s rights and how women lived and worked throughout history.
• Many quilts were made out of necessity. Discuss with students how families utilized all that they had during the Great Depression and Post Depression eras. For example, many quilts were made out of scraps of old material. Have students research the lives of Americans living in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s and use the crazy quilt pattern as an example of how they utilized what they had.
• From 1843 to 1869, many Americans were migrating west on the Oregon Trail. The trail cut through southern Idaho and brought people into the state. Many of the quilts in the exhibition were originally made in the late 1800’s and some found their way into Idaho along with the families that traveled on the Oregon Trail. Have students take the virtual tour on the Idaho State Historical Society website at http://www.idahohistory.net/exhibits.html and make a list of the important things a quilt could provide for families along the trail.
• Use this site, http://www.womenfolk.com/historyofquilts/articles.htm, to help students research quilting in America from colonial times to the 1970’s. Have students investigate how quilting changed throughout time and how these changes corresponded to events throughout the history of America.
• Women sometimes held quilting bees or quilting parties where they made quilts together. Discuss quilting bees and other social events and the purpose they served for women living in rural Idaho communities. Hold your own social event or quilting bee for the school or your classroom.

Reading and Writing

• Story-telling and oral histories are both closely tied to quilting and quilting bees. Ask students to describe an item that was given to them by a relative or that has special meaning to them. Have students write stories about where their item came from and why this item is important to them.
• Show students an image of one of the historical quilts. Have students brainstorm a list of words that could be used to describe the textures, colors, shapes, patterns and moods of this quilt. Discuss what form a poem would take that would imitate the form of the quilt. Would it be a sonnet, free verse, or haiku? Have students create poems using the list of words they created about the quilt.
• Visit the website,http://teachers.net/lessons/posts/1398.html to access a lesson plan that corresponds with the book “A Quilt Story” by Tony Johnston. Have students share personal moments of their own with the class.
• Quilt-making is a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation among families. Have a class discussion about traditions. What traditions do the students have in their own families or cultures? What kinds of special things do they do on holidays? Did any of the students learn something from an older relative, community member, teacher, friend or acquaintance like how to make a recipe, play an instrument, create a painting or a quilt, sing a song, or play a game or sport? Have students write about a tradition that has passed from one generation to the next and include when the tradition began, how it feels to be a part of that tradition and what makes the tradition special. Students can also write about a new tradition they would like to start.
• Ask students to think of an object at home that holds special memories for them or has an interesting story. Have them bring their object in and write a story about its history from the perspective of their object. Students can share their stories with the class.
• Have students read short stories about quilts such as The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy or Everyday Use by Alice Walker. What do the quilts mean to the characters in these stories? Discuss the characters’ sense of their heritage and their relationships to the quilts.

 
Math

• Discuss geometric shapes. Work with the recognition and arrangement of geometric shapes using tangram puzzles. A lesson plan is available online with more ideas for using these puzzles: http://math.about.com/library/tangramsm.pdf.
• Discuss different types of symmetry used in traditional quilt patterns. Have students use tangrams or geometric shapes and practice making patterns that use these types of symmetry. Have students complete an activity using patterns and types of symmetry here: www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/geometry/shape/quilts/quilts_1.html
• Have students explore how designs can be made using tessellation. Demonstrate rotation and translation and how to create optical illusions.
• Using 1-inch squares and triangles cut from 1-inch squares of colored construction paper, have students create a pattern within a nine-patch block (three rows of three squares). Then have students change one or two pieces to break the repetition. Discuss how the pattern changes.
• Experiment with the measurements involved in creating a quilt design. Using graph paper and colored markers or pencils, design a quilt using at least two different geometrical shapes. Each block will have at least two differently shaped pieces in it. Determine how big each piece should be, how big each block should be, and how many blocks will be needed to make a quilt to cover:

  a queen-sized mattress with a 14” drop on three sides—88” by 94”

  a twin-sized mattress with a 14” drop on three sides—67” by 89”

  a full-sized mattress with a 14” drop on three sides—82” by 89”

  a king-sized mattress with a 14” drop on three sides—104” by 94”

Alter designs to match the size needed.

• Discuss ratio and proportion in relation to quilt patterns. Have students draw a quilt design on a 6”x6” grid, then copy the pattern to a 12”x12” grid.

 
 Science and Physics

• Fabric restoration and storage is a science that museums use to rescue and maintain fabric art. Have students research the ways that museums handle the care and treatment of the fabric art.
• Use a quilt to demonstrate how blankets, coats and clothing work to keep us warm and what properties make an article of clothing retain more heat. Explain to students that quilts are made of three layers: a top that is decorative, a middle of soft batting that adds thickness, and a back. These three layers are stitched or quilted together to make the quilt. Compare and contrast the way quilts are assembled with how other types of clothing are made. Discuss how certain fabrics and materials are created to keep people warm or cool.
• Quilts are often made from discarded fabric scraps and pieces of clothing that are no longer wearable. Have students research the costs and savings to the environment of reusing all sorts of materials. Take on a class or school recycling project. Have students determine its effect on the environment in economic and ecological terms.
• Discuss how colorful fabrics get their color from chemicals involved in dye technologies. Research and discuss how various types of fabric take the dye in different ways and what properties of fabric cause it to react to different chemicals. Compare and contrast the dye used to create the more vibrant colors of modern fabrics with those used on historical fabrics. How does the texture of fabric change the way the color is reflected? Students can experiment with food coloring to add color to fabrics or dye their own quilt squares.
  

Technology

• Show students examples of traditional quilt patterns. Then, have students use computer software to design a pattern, experimenting with rotation and symmetry.
• In 1846 the first sewing machine was invented. Visit http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/sewmachine.htm, for resources about the invention of the sewing machine and its impact on people’s lives. Have the students research the mechanisms in a sewing machine and how the invention affected the way quilts are made.
  

Arts

• Have students collect fabric scraps or pieces of old clothing. Students may bring in clothes they no longer wear to use in their piece with parental permission. If possible, have them choose scraps from clothing that they especially liked or that had some special meaning for them because of an event or something they did while wearing the item. Have students cut the pieces into shapes and arrange them all into a single quilt design. Then, students can take turns telling the stories of the pieces in the quilt. Older students can create a play about making the quilt and about the different stories that came together as they worked.
• The Gee’s Bend artists made quilts inspired by the places and objects around them. Have students take photographs or draw places in their community. Talk about the shapes and lines seen in the drawings or photographs of these places, and then have students make a drawing using these elements.
• Have students write a short play together using a quilt or quilt design as the focus of the play.
• Have students examine the patterns/rhythm created by a quilt design. Invent and perform a dance inspired by these patterns. Compose and perform a song inspired by the design.
• The quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend used a variety of common fabrics and re-used clothing to make their quilts. Have students make artwork using recycled materials. Students can describe why they chose to use their particular materials when they are finished.
• Write song lyrics describing what life might have been like in Gee’s Bend using a quilt design as inspiration.
• Use rulers, drawing paper and markers to create a quilt design with a unique pattern. Students can use smaller and more detailed shapes to create more complex designs.
• Have students use foam, safety-cut or linoleum blocks to make a relief print of a quilt block design. They can print their blocks several times on one sheet of paper to create their own quilt design, or all of the students’ prints could be assembled on the wall into a class quilt.
• Research the works of African American artists such as Faith Ringgold, Red Grooms, Nick Cave, etc. and compare and contrast their works to those of the Gee’s Bend quilters.
• Give students construction paper and a large paper frame and have them make a quilt design of their own. Students can choose their own colors and cut out various shapes and pieces to add to their design. Have students compare and contrast their designs with images of traditional quilt designs. Hang the finished quilts in the classroom.

Related Web Sites

Post-Visit Activity: MAKE IT!

To extend the museum experience and connect the tour to your curriculum, please consider using or adapting this suggested lesson

Quilt Patterns

Introduction

The Boise Art Museum’s exhibition Patchwork: Historical Quilts highlights a variety of local and regional quilts created over the past century, borrowed from the collection of the Idaho Historical Museum. Quilting is an important tradition in many communities. In the exhibition, students will learn about the patterns, materials and history of the quilts. In this Post-Visit Activity, students will create a pattern or design inspired by traditional quilts by making a collage of cut pieces from different materials.

Materials

• Heavy paper or tag board Newspapers
• Pencils Magazines
• Rulers Colored Paper
• Scissors Wallpaper
• Glue sticks

Instructions

• Give each student a sheet of paper or tag board for their background. Students may pre-sketch a design with pencil onto their background, or they may improvise as they go.
• Have students choose materials to make their pattern. Students may choose pieces from newspaper pages, magazines, colored paper, wallpaper, and other materials that may have contrasting colors, textures and shapes.
• Have students cut a variety of shapes and strips and arrange them on the heavy paper.
  They may overlap and arrange their designs with the following ideas in mind.
  • Symmetrical vs. asymmetrical
  • Color
  • Pattern vs. free-form
• Finished designs can be displayed individually or in a group

Project Applications and Extensions

Social Studies, History, Geography

• Create a collage using articles and images about current events. Use one event to inspire a quilt design. What would the shapes and patterns for the event look like?
• Instead of magazine articles, use old or current maps to create the quilt design. Choose maps from a certain region of the United States, and use colors from magazine pictures that might describe that regio

 Reading and Writing

• Cut specific words from the newspapers and magazines to create a poem about your quilt design. The words may be incorporated into the quilt design, or displayed next to the design.
• Have students write creative narratives about the creation of their quilts and the meaning behind their choice of materials and patterns.

 Math

• Glue the newspaper and magazine shapes to grid paper. Depending on the size of the grid provided, calculate the size of the shapes if the design were created 10 or 20 times larger than the original work.
• Create a pattern using only geometric shapes. Base designs on only one or two shapes, like a triangle and a circle, and compare and contrast the results.

 Science and Physics

• Research newspaper and magazine recycling. How does this process work in your area? Are there other ways these materials can be reused?
• Create a quilt design inspired by symmetry in nature. For example, are there flowers, leaves, shells, or fruits that have symmetrical designs?

 Technology

• Use programs like Microsoft Paint to create a quilt pattern on the computer. Vary the colors, shapes, and lines to create different symbols in the quilt.
• Have students take photographs of the school, classroom, or town in which you live. Print the photos and have students cut them apart and reassemble them into quilt patterns. The photos could also be downloaded onto computers, and manipulated in a program like Adobe Photoshop to create a quilt design.

 Art

• Use found objects to create a three-dimensional version of your original quilt design.
• Create a mural as a class using paint. Each student can design their own symbolic quilt square to incorporate into the mural. Students can decide on shapes, lines and paint colors to add unity to the work.

Bibliography
Historical Quilts

Teachers

Malone, Maggie. 120 Patterns for Traditional Patchwork Quilts. Sterling Publishing Co.,1992.
Evans, Joy, and Tonya Skelton. How to Teach Art to Children; Grades 1-6. Evan-Moor Educational Publishers, 2001.
Panchyk, Richard. American Folk Art for Kids: with 21 Activities. Chicago Review Press, 2004.
Wilens, Patricia. Encyclopedia of Classic Quilt Patterns. Oxmoor House, 2001.
Kiracofe, Roderick. The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950. Clarkson Potter, 2004.
Johnston, Tony. The Quilt Story. Putnam Juvenile, 1996

 Preschool

Wegman, William. Triangle, Circle, Square. Hyperion Book CH, 1995.
Micklewait, Lucy. I Spy Shapes in Art. Greenwillow Books, 2004.
Yenawine, Philip. Shapes. New York; The Museum of Modern Art, 2006.

K to 2 nd

Jonas, Ann. The Quilt. Puffin Publishing, 1994.
Johnston, Tony. The Quilt Story. Putnam Juvenile, 1996.
Dock, Julie B. Quilting Now and Then. Now and Then Publications, 1994.

3 rd to 6 th

Bial, Raymond. With Needle and Thread: A Book about Quilts. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 1996.
Cobb, Mary. Quilt Block History of Pioneer Days. Millbrook Press, 1995.
Leeuwen, Jean Van. Papa and the Pioneer Quilt. Dial, 2007.

Junior High

Bial, Raymond. With Needle and Thread: A Book About Quilts. Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 1996.
Hakala, Sonya. American Patchwork: True Stories from Quilters. Thomas Dunne Books, 2007.
Aldrich, Margret. This Old Quilt: A Heartwarming Celebration of Quilts and Quilting Memories. Voyageur Press, 2005.
Lamancusa, Kathy. Quilts are Forever: A Patchwork Collection of Inspirational Stories. Fireside, 2002.

Young Adult/Adult

 Lamancusa, Kathy. Quilts are Forever: A Patchwork Collection of Inspirational Stories. Fireside, 2002.
Aldrich, Margret. Once Upon a Quilt: A Scrapbook of Quilting Past and Present. Voyageur Press, 2007.
Kiracofe, Roderick. The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort 1750-1950. Clarkson Potter, 2004.