Quilting With Children

After spending a week with our other granddaughter, 

I thought I should share photos of the quilt we made in her pre-school class a few years ago.  First we looked at a few sample blocks and discussed the traditional names, like Spinning Star, School House, Snail's Trail and Ship of Dreams.

Then each child was given four purple triangles and a white square of paper that had already been folded into quadrants. Together we assembled house blocks, pinwheels and "Birds in the Air". Next they chose their favorite design, glued the triangles to the paper and signed their names.

In the studio I pieced some of the blocks and fused the creative blocks made by the students that didn't go with the one-in-each-quadrant plan. I lettered their names with the wide end of a permanent ZIG marker on each block. The teachers' names were lettered with a flat brush and acrylic paint. The finished quilt hung at their school the rest of the year for the whole school to enjoy. 

This was such a successful project that I have used it twice in the children's summer art camp that I have taught at for years.

It's called "Slug Soup - Art For Young People with Unique Tastes" and is scheduled for June 23 – 27, 2014 at Nestucca Valley Junior/Senior High School.