Transcript Slide 1

Project 2: Cultural Artifact
Quiltmaking and Math
Section 1: Description of Artifact
One of my earliest memories is going to bed as my mom began cutting
out a pattern from some yellow gingham. I was delighted and astonished when I
woke up the next morning to find a beautiful yellow checked sun dress hanging on
my bedroom door that my mother had made for me in the night. From then on I
wanted to sew and my mother patiently taught me from a young age. My passion for
sewing resulted in my having the best dressed Barbie dolls on the block. I began
making pieced quilts as a teen and sewing developed into a way to provide income
for my family as I taught sewing lessons, managed a fabric store, and after my
children were born, began sewing from my home. My artifact is a Star in Heaven
quilt top that I pieced many years ago. It is made from two different blocks called
June Bride and Puss-in-the-Corner. Piecing quilts is a way to express my creativity
and is also a connection with generations of quilting women throughout American
history.
Historical Facts about Quilting
Life was hard for early colonial women and quilting was a rare
pastime. It wasn’t until the 1840’s, when the textile industry had grown to the
point that fabric was readily available to most families, that quilting become a
common way for American women to express their creativity. After quilting
became a widespread activity, somehow the idea that quilting was common in
colonial times became a romanticized myth.
There are intriguing stories of how quilting was used to help the
slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. A Log Cabin quilt hanging in a
window with a black center for the chimney hole was said to indicate a safe house.
Underground Railroad quilts were said to give cues as to the safe path to freedom.
We imagine women secretly sewing fabric pieces together to be used as signals.
Research on the Underground Railroad has found no evidence that this actually
occurred, but these stories have been told from generation to generation filling
our imagination with visions of quilting being a part of the flight for freedom.
A quilt made of scraps or blocks gathered and signed by friends is
called a friendship or album quilt. Many a lonely woman living out on an isolated
homestead cherished her friendship quilt. The making of these quilts was in the
reach of almost any women no matter her financial circumstances, as most of the
fabric was contributed a block at a time by friends.
Union and Confederate women rallied to the war effort when the Civil
War broke out in 1861. By the end of the war it is estimated that over 250,000
quilts had been made for Union soldiers. Very few of the quilts made for soldiers
have survived. These quilts got a great deal of wear and probably did not seem
worth saving after the war. Many completely wore out. Additionally, the fact that
many soldiers were buried in their quilts makes them extremely rare today.
During the Great Depression warm bedding was welcome on cold
nights and the lovely patterns and fabrics brought a simple beauty to the home.
The quilt could be made from sewing scraps and from out-grown clothing, so very
little expense was involved. Quilting was also a way of earning money to help a
family get by financially.
Historical facts found at: http://www.womenfolk.com/historyofquilts/
Section 2: Mathematical Potential in Quiltmaking
All activities are aligned with 4th Grade Utah Core Curriculum
Problem Solving

Make a puzzle by cutting apart a quilt block pattern and see if a friend can
put it back together again

Design your own math problem using a quilt block and have a friend solve it
Patterns and Relationships

Students will recognize and analyze repeating and growing patterns in in a row
of quilt blocks and extend the pattern
Numbers and Operations

Quilt blocks will be used as rectangular array models to represent
multiplication of one and two digit factors

Multiplication and division story problems will be written and solved by
students using a pieced quilt top as a model, example: If there are 13 red
squares in each row, and there are 9 rows, how many red squares do I need to
cut out?

Students will name and write a fraction to represent a portion of a whole quilt
block, coming up with multiple ways to a solution such as folding, cutting,
counting, and algorithms

Comparisons of two fractional parts of a quilt block will me made to
determine which is greater or if they are equivalent
Geometry

Parallel and intersecting lines on a quilt block will be identified

Lines of symmetry will be determined using quilts and quilt blocks. Students
will engage in an online activity where they can explore four kinds of
symmetry by manipulating quilt blocks at
www.learner.org/teacherslab/math/geometry/shape/quilts/index/html

Using quilt blocks, students will sort and classify polygons.

The angles of polygon shapes in quilt blocks can be measures, sorted, and
rules about sums determined.

Students will explore tessellations by creating their own tessellating quilt
block

Students will explore transformations: rotation (turn), translation (slide),
reflection (flip) by manipulating asymmetrical quilt blocks and recording their
findings on graph paper
Measurement

The area and the perimeter of a quilt can be estimated and measured using
both standard and non-standard units of measure
50 – 40 or Fight
Blooming Flower
Dewey’s Dream
Churn Dash
Crazy Ann
Double T
Weathervane
Jacob’s Ladder
Lawyer’s Star
Memory
Mineral Wells
Old Maid’s Puzzle
Park Square
Picket Fence
Road to California
Rosebud
Sister’s Choice
Snail’s Trails
Star of North Carolina
Star of Bethlehem
Storm at Sea
Uncle Sam’s Star
Fireworks
Windmill Crossing
Blooming Flower
Card Trick
Carpenter’s Wheel
Double Pin
Section 3: Create a Mathematical Problem
Explain/diagram your thinking:
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the red portion (part)?
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the yellow portion?
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the green portion?
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the blue portion?
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the purple portion?
Solution #1
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the red portion?
I folded the red portion down, and then folded it down again to
see how many layers I ended up with. This told me that the red
portion was 1 out of 3 parts of the whole or 1/3.
Solution #2
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the yellow portion?
I cut out several yellow squares the same size as the yellow
portion and I laid them over the quilt block to see how many of
them would fit. I knew that the numerator was 1 and the
denominator would equal the number of yellow squares it would
take to cover the quilt block so the solution is 1/9.
Solution #3
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the green portion?
I drew a line down the middle of the green triangle and
determined that I have 4 equal parts in the small square so the
green part is 1/2 of 1/9 (the total number of squares). I counted
the 9 squares by 2, giving me 18 parts, with the green
representing 1/18 of the whole.
Solution #4
What fraction of the whole quilt block is the purple portion?
I can see that the purple part is 3/4 of 1/9. If I multiply them
together I get 3/4 * 1/9 = 3/36. I can divide the numerator
and denominator each by 3 to give me 1/12.
Quilts
By Danelle Mineer
Layers of fabric, batting, rows of tiny stitches,
Snuggled under on a frosty morning…
Quilts warm our hearts and bodies.
Sharing precious scraps, quilting bees and circles,
Quilts cherished from lonely miles apart…
Quilts are a lasting mark of friendship.
Colors, textures, patterns, carefully chosen,
Blue ribbon works of art …
Quilts show the aesthetic nature of women.
A sweet newborn baby swaddled in a quilt,
Covering the stooped shoulders of a grandfather…
Quilts are a part of life and death.
Red strips and white strips, appliquéd stars,
What so proudly we hail…
Quilts are a symbol of patriotism.
Rail Fence, Trip Around the World, Road to California,
Quilt patterns telling of a westward journey…
Quilts are pioneer stories.
A black square in the middle of the log cabin quilt,
Meant shelter according to oral tradition…
Quilts are road maps to freedom.
Imperfect quilts as a mark of humility,
For there was only One who was perfect…
Quilts are a way to worship God.
Quilts in Children’s Literature
Oma’s Quilt by Paulette Bourgeois
A Far-fetched Story by Karin Cates
Quilt Counting by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt by Lisa Campbell Ernst
The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
The Quilting Bee by Gail Gibbons
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson
Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson
The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and illustrated by Tomie dePaola
The Boy and the Quilt by Shirley Kurtz
14,287 Pieces of Fabric by Jean Ray Laury
The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills
The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
The Name Quilt by Physsis Root
The Return of Morris Schumsky by Steven Schnur
The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom by Bettye Stroud
The Mountains of Quilt by Nancy Willard and Tomie dePaola
The Moon Quilt by Sunny Warner
The Riches of Rangoberra by Jane Weber and illustrated by Rijalynne Saari
Eight Hands Around-A Patchwork Alphabet by Ann and Paul Whitford
The Seasons Sewn: A Year in Patchwork by Ann and Paul Whitford
The Patchwork Lady by Mary K Whittington
Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson