This lesson will introduce students to the quilting history and ritual of the women from Gee’s Bend Alabama. Their quilts will be compared to other contemporary quilts. Students will then develop their own designs and create their own quilt patch.
Grade Level: 6th-7th grade
Class Periods Needed to Complete Lesson: 5 (60 minutes each)
Big Idea: Family Rituals
Key Ideas:
- Quilt making is a tradition in many families and cultures.
- The women of Gee’s Bend have created a quilting history passed down through generations.
- The abstract quilts from Gee’s Bend blend traditional craft with contemporary designs.
Objectives:
- Students will learn about the history of Gee’s Bend Alabama.
- Students will learn about how a ritual, like quilting, can be passed down through generations of families.
- Students will learn about the patterns present in quilts.
- Students will create their own abstract quilt patch.
- Students will learn stitching techniques.
Kansas Art Standard #1: Understanding and applying media techniques and processes.
Benchmark # 2: Students intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas.
Indicator # 1: Students demonstrate an appropriate level of proficiency in traditional media and emerging technology such as textiles/fibers.
Kansas Art Standard # 4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.
Benchmark # 3: Students analyze, describe and demonstrate how factors of time and place influence visual characteristics that give meaning and value to a work of art.
Indicator # 4: Students demonstrate an understanding of how the meanings of specific artworks reflect factors of time and place.
Critical Questions:
What is the purpose of a quilt; does it have multiple purposes?
What is different about the quilts from Gee’s Bend compared to traditional quilts?
Why is a tradition passed down?
What types of traditions do families pass down from generation to generation?
Resources and Materials:
Center Medallion with multiple borders, Annie May Young, Artist Reproductions,
Housetop Variations, Henrietta Pettway, Artist Reproduction
Quilt images from the book Contemporary Quilts
7X7 inch fabric squares
Fabric scraps (large assortment)
Paper
Pencils
Pins
Plastic needles
Pins
Quilt
Scissors
Tape
Teacher Example
Thread
Yarn
Vocabulary:
Pattern- The repetition of anything in a design
Tradition –The passing along of a culture from generation to generation
Tessellation – A collection of shapes that fit together to cover a surfacewithout overlapping or leaving gaps.
Description
Day One
Students will be shown a family quilt, then the class will have a brief discussion about who makes quilts and if anyone owns a quilt in their home. The class will discuss how traditions are passed down from generation to generation. The class will talk about other traditions that are passed down in a family.
Students will then be introduced to the quilting history of Gee’s Bend. Students will look at a print of Housetop Variation, by Henrietta Pettway. Students will be asked to discuss the differences of this quilt and traditional quilts. Students will then learn more about the quilts from Gee’s Bend Alabama. The African American women of Gee’s Bend have been creating quilts for over six generations. The ancestors of slaves, these women created quilts first for necessity and now for their importance to their community heritage. The quilts are made out of old jean material, corduroy and other old fabrics. The woman of Gee’s Bend had to make due with what they had, and this quilt is made from worn out work clothes. They used scraps that most people would throw away.
Students will then look at the print of Center Medallion with Multiple Borders by Annie May Young. The class will discuss if quilts must include patterns. Traditional quilts commonly have a set grid of patterns. The Gee’s Bend quilts have a mixture of patterns, repetition of shape and color and abstract designs. The class will discuss how patterns and shapes can evoke feelings. Color are often a key way to evoke feelings in a quilt. The bright colors of the Gee’s Bend quilts are bright and happy, and evoke a since of movement. They often incorporate symbols such as a squares and triangles to represent a house.
Students will then be given a chance to create patterns. They will be given a pattern worksheet to complete. This will give them a hands-on activity after a lengthy lecture. It will also serve as a way for them to practice pattern making for their studio product.
Day Two
Students will be asked to recall the previous session and summarize what was learned. Students will be reminded that quilt making occurs in multiple cultures, and they are artworks that also function as blankets.
The class will be asked to list all of the shapes that can make a pattern. I assume they will name geometric shapes. I will then tell them a pattern can be made from any shape. I will show the class images from the book Contemporary Quilts. The quilts in this book are created from M.C. Escher drawings. The tessellations and patterns are used to create modern quilts. They include geometric shapes but also shapes of animals and other organic forms.
Students will be given the studio assignment. Students will create a quilt patch. The patch can be abstract like images shown from Gee’s Bend or they can be full of patterns. The patch must include at least one pattern. Students must use at least three different colors of material. Students are encouraged to pick a symbol or pattern that has meaning to them. They are also told they should think of what type of feeling or mood they want to create with their color choice and design. They are told they can bring in their own fabric scraps if they want; I will encourage the scraps to have some personal meaning.
Student will be shown a quilting demonstration. I will have a few scraps of material that I will hand stitch together. Students will learn how to tie a knot and thread a needle. Students will then be given their own needle and scraps. Each student must stitch two pieces together. Students will then sketch their design for their quilt patch. Students will clean up.
Day Three
The class will have a short talk on patterns to start the class. The teacher example will be presented to them for analysis and discussion. This will help them to visualize their final product.
Students will then work on their quilt patch. Each student is expected to cut out the shapes and pieces and arrange them first. When they have came up with an arrangement they are happy with theywill take a piece of paper and tack the pieces onto it in the desired pattern. This will ensure they have an easier time putting the final piece together. Student will then begin to hand sew the pieces together. Students will clean up.
Day Four
The class will take a few minutes to see what information they remember from the Gee’s Bend art history they learned earlier in the lesson. Students will then continue to work on their quilt patch. Student will clean up their work area at the end of class.
Day Five
Students will be asked if quilting is a tradition that already occurs in their family. If it is not I will ask if they would like to start a quilting tradition in their family. Students will then finish their pieces. When they are done they will bring them to the me for ironing.
Assessment Rubric
Bibliography:
Beardsley, J., P Arnett, W. Arnett, and J Livingston. Gee's Bend: The Women and Their Quilts. Houston: Tinwood Books, 2002.
Parker, Kay. Contemporary Quilts. New York: The Crossing P, 1981.
The Quilts of Gee's Bend. 2004. Tinwoods Ventures. 06 Dec. 2005 <http://www.quiltsofgeesbend.com/>.
|
