Gee's Bend Quilts> Fourth Grade Compositions

I have a love and fascination for Gee's Bend Quilts and quilters. If you don't know much about them, you can read about them here.  There are also several great books about them as well.

Asymmetrical balance is only part of their appeal. Quilts tell stories and the story of these quiltmakers is both beautiful and painful. If you think your students would benefit from watching a video, there are several. My fourth graders were able to grasp and learn from snippets from this one.  The quilt below is by Essie Bendolph Pettway. The second quilt is by Jessie T. Pettway, and third is by Rachel Carey George. This one is constructed from Sears Corduroy fabric. These photos are from the Souls Grown Deep Foundation, which is a community partner for the Gee's Bend Quilters.

 I try to have a lot of colored papers on hand, in general. For this project, students pick 4 +/-  colors, which they snip and glue into asymmetrical compositions. I am so impressed with their results, and how different they are from each other. I have found that starting from a 9 x 12 format is a good size. I tried using bigger paper, and the students run out of enthusiasm.  There is a spontaneity to this project that suits fourth graders particularly well.