Geometry in Traditional Quilt Design - Unit Plan
By: Julie Curtis - AAM
GRADE LEVEL: 7th Grade
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: This unit is designed for seventh grade math and pre-algebra students. Less than a decade ago, quilt-making was thought to be a lost art form. Because of a renewed interest in tracing family history and line of ancestry, quilts are now regarded as a record of cultural history and a reflection of the lives of the people who created them. Students will be contacting family members, as well as local and regional quilters in an effort to learn about the history of quilting and to explore the mathematical connections to the patterns and designs. This project will allow students to speak with people of many cultures who have recently moved to this area and blended their quilting traditions with those of the people of this region. In their quest for information, they will attempt to discover new patterns, designs and variations created by the people of this Western North Carolina.
ACTIVITIES
| Lesson 1 | Talk to the Experts |
| Lesson 2 | Name That Block |
| Lesson 3 | Pick A Square, Any Square! |
| Lesson 4 | Help! My Square Is the Wrong Size! |
| Lesson 5 | The Plane! The Plane! I See The Plane!!!! |
| Lesson 6 | Lessons on Tessellations |
| Lesson 7 | Interdisciplinary Connections |
OUTCOMES/ASSESSMENTS
Recent updates to Mathematics curriculum have created a need for new and different ways to teach difficult material. Because of the enormous amount of information students need to process, teachers and curriculum specialists are seeking ways to perform multiple tasks in education. Because the people of western North Carolina live in an area where mountain folk arts and handicrafts are part of their culture-rich tradition, I selected one of those arts to teach geometry. One of the goals of this project is to establish a bridge of tradition between students and others in this area. Not only will classes be taking a closer look at the shapes and patterns in quilts, they will be searching for the cultural history of the design.
Quilts are very expensive, so I decided to take a quilting class at our local community college. I learned why quilters charge their well-earned fees and I came away from the project with a greater respect for those who paint their pictures with scraps of cloth. We plan to create a quilt of our own in the coming year and contribute to the "Storybook Quilt Project" of western North Carolina and north Georgia. Much of the assessment will be done by self evaluation and peer grading. The best assessment will be observing the enthusiasm of the participants and the final quilt product.
RESOURCES
Experts
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Geraldine
Lominac
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Various
Guest Quilters
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Web Sites - Library of Congress
The following sites are from the Collection Connections: Quilts and Quilt making in America 1978-1996
| Speaking of Quilts: Voices from the Late 20th Century |
| Blue Ridge Quilters |
| The Lands' End All-American Quilt Contest |
| Glossary of Quilt Terms |
Other Web Sites
Other Resources (Books, Journals,
Magazines, etc.)
| The History of the Patchwork Quilt: Origins, Traditions and Symbols of a Textile Art, Schnuppe von Gwinner |
| 101
Patchwork Patterns, Ruby McKim |
| A People and Their Quilts, John Rice Irwin |
| The Mountain Artisans Quilting Book, Alfred Allan Lewis |
| The Quilters - Women and Domestic Art: An Oral History, Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Allen |
| Quiltmaking in America: Beyond the Myths, Edited by Laurel Horton |
| Best-Loved Quilt Patterns, 1991 by Oxmoor House, Inc. |
| Weekend Log Cabin Quilts for People Who Don't Have Time to Quilt, Marti Michell |
| America's Quilts and Coverlets, Carleton L. Safford and Robert Bishop |