6th Grader's Wallpaper "Quilts" (a lesson in measurement!)

Often times, the visual art world gets wrapped up in using terms such as 'high art' (paintings and sculptures that we might find in a gallery or museum) and 'low art' (crafts such as embroidery, knitting, quilting, woodworking that might be done as a hobby). But, much of what is considered 'low art' has been in the high art zone in the past (think Ming Dynasty porcelain) and many contemporary artists are currently working to uplift low art so it can be viewed as legitimate fine art. Quilting is an art form because it takes creativity and skill. Many may just call it a craft because a quilt is usually meant to be used (for warmth and comfort) and not hung on a museum wall.
When introducing this lesson, I made sure to point out to the 6th graders that the IMA displays a whole section of beautifully crafted quilts on their gallery walls. We also looked at images of a new(er) type of quilt that is ONLY intended for the wall of a gallery or museum. These 'paintings in textiles' are just simply called 'art quilts'. After gaining an appreciation for the 'high art' of quilting, I turned the lesson back to the basics of quilting and the parts of a quilts, because all forms of art need to start at the basics! Each student received a worksheet with a similar block pattern, but was able to choose between seven different patterns that could be used on the one block. After they chose their patterns, they knew how many different 'textiles' (we used wallpaper samples!) they needed to follow their chosen pattern. Each student then went to work on measuring and checking measurements and Remeasuring and Rechecking measurements until they were certain that their measurements were correct. And then we checked them again! It was a daunting task for many of the students, but I can gladly say that I have a six grade group that are now masters of the ruler! From there, they cut and glue their pieces onto their block by following their pattern. Then, they glued their block onto the 'backing' (poster board) and we 'sewed' (hole punched and wove yarn) all the blocks together. This was such a fun project! I especially loved seeing the students work together at the end to put their quilts together so that the blocks worked together for an allover class piece.