Web Quest: End of the Trail Story Quilt

For Grade 5 By

Dana Dawson

Introduction (Top)

The history of quilting is varied, filled with practicality and stories.  Quilts were and still have a utilitarian purpose of providing warmth.  Quilts are windows to people’s lives.  This is especially true of the quilts made along the Oregon Trail. 

The 1800’s were a time of great westward movement in the United States. For people making this move, it was a time of major dislocation. Men were the ones who generally made the decision to move, without consulting their wives or daughters. Women moving west would leave all their friends and family behind, quite possibly never seeing them again. In order to combat this separation of distance, women who were moving were presented with Friendship, or Name, quilts. These quilts had the names (and often the addresses) of the women they left behind embroidered into them. Often the women would also embroider a poem or a short bit of writing in addition to their name. 

During this period there was an increase in the use of block patterns rather than whole-cloth quilts, although whole cloth was still more fashionable. Sashing came into use to frame individual blocks. Patchwork blocks are both portable and frugal uses for scraps, and may have become popular among pioneer women as a result.

Tasks (Top)

The student will design and make a block for the “End of the Trail Quilt.”  The finished block will be made of fabric, but not sewn.

Resources (Top)  

Websites:

Quilt Blocks a gold mine of patterns, listed by name or type
Designing Blocks shows different methods for creating blocks
Grandmother’s Quilts A collection of information about quilts. 
History of Quilting A brief history of quilting.

Books:

Treasures of the Trunk – Quilts of the Oregon Trail by Mary Cross
The Boy and the Quilt by Shirley Kurtz. Good Books, 1991. If you are looking for a story that will inspire any boys in your class who are reluctant quilters, this delightful story certainly will! 
The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock. Dutton, 1989. This emotional story shows how a very important, lovingly created quilt helps a young girl come to terms with the cycles of life and death. 

Eight Hands Round by Ann Whitford Paul. Harper Collins, 1991. This book is very effective if read in short segments. It illustrates 26 different quilt patterns from A to Z also giving a brief history about each pattern, explaining whether it was based on an event, activity, or object.

The Josefina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr. Harper and Row, 1986. A well-written chapter book for young readers that shows how the experiences of a pioneer family traveling west in the 1850's are stitched into a young girl's first quilt.

The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco. Simon and Schuster, 1988. Another poignant and meaningful story that shows how quilts tie families together and span many generations, even when different heritages intermarry. The sepia-tone illustrations are magnificent.

My Grandmother's Patchwork Quilt by Janet Bolton. Doubleday/Delacorte, 1993. When she was a little girl, Grandmother made a doll quilt depicting her wonderful childhood on the farm. As her granddaughter tells the story of the making of the quilt, we also hear Grandmother's narrative of her childhood; piece-by-piece, memory-by-memory, the quilt takes shape. A portfolio of 10 fabric squares with outlines of scenes from the original quilt is included with this beautifully constructed book, along with instructions for recreating Grandmother's quilt. 

The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy. Dial Books, 1985. This story follows the progress of a grandmother and granddaughter working on a family patchwork quilt. All the scraps that are worked into the quilt are in some way connected to the lives of the family members. A good introduction to the multi-generational bridge quilts can provide. 

Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt by Lisa Campbell Ernst. Lothrop, 1983. A fantastic story that shows many different quilt patterns, celebrates originality and resourcefulness, and also illustrates how men can quilt as well as women. Intricate quilt patterns are used as borders around the illustrations. Our students consistently rank this book as their favorite among all the quilt literature selections they have read. 

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. Crown, 1991. Faith Ringgold has made her mark in both the literary and quilting worlds by creating fascinating "story quilts" based on her own life experiences. Each page of "Tar Beach" shows a segment of her story quilt about her childhood. The book depicts yet another way that quilts are rich with meaning and heritage.

Process (Top)

1. Bring in a quilt from home, to share with the class.  Be able to tell who made the quilt, for whom, and what is the story behind the quilt.  Share your quilt with the class.
2. Read The Josefina Story Quilt by Eleanor Coerr.  Read at least two other books listed above.  From these books you should be able to see that quilts can tell stories.
3. Review the website above that describes quilt blocks by name.  How do the names relate to the designs?  Quilts not only tell their story through the design but also through their names.
4. Read through the diary you have been keeping about your travels along the Oregon Trail.
5. Choose an incident, an event, or a object that you encountered in your travels.
6. Review the website above that talks about how to design blocks.
7. Start making your prototype of your block.  Use a drawing program.  You can make up your own design or use one from the resources above. Your block be 7 ½” x 7 ½” square.  No shapes can overlap, and no white spaces can be left.
8. When you have decided that you have created “the one” for the quilt, print out your block design.  Cut it into pieces and trace your pieces onto a 7 ½” x 7 ½” square of paper backed fusible webbing. 
9. Cut your webbing material into individual pieces. 
10.  Select the fabric you will use for each piece, using your prototype as a guide as to color and texture.
11. Iron the non-paper side of your webbing onto the BACK of the fabric.
12. Trim the fabric to the shape of the webbing material.
13. Peel off the paper backing from all the pieces.  Assemble your block onto the background fabric, making sure all the pieces fit edge to edge.  Iron the pieces on to the background.
14. Write the name of your block and a story of what it represents.
15. Your story, along with a copy of your prototype will be collected in a class “Oregon Trail Quilt” storybook.

Evaluation (Top)

33 pts for making the quilt prototype
33 pts for making the finished square
33 pts writing the story about the block

 Conclusion (Top)

Making a quilt is quite an accomplishment.  Hours of work have gone into designing of the block, choosing the fabrics, and constructing the block and quilt.  All the while, the designer is thinking of the story.  This “End of the Trail Quilt” will summarize the student’s experiences and knowledge gained during this unit.