LESSON PLAN: FOLK ART: QUILTS

  1. General Overview of Exhibit at the Tarble:
  2. Students who cannot make it to the exhibit need to know the following about folk art:
  3. Folk artists did not have academic training in their art
  4. Sometimes folk art is passed down through families; some artists have learned how to make their art from books or by watching other artists at work
  5. Folk art is made by hand and is not made from any one material, nor is it any one shape or size. Folk art, like folk artists, is special and unique.
  6. In the exhibit about folk art at the Tarble, you can find many pieces of folk art that are very different from each other: (are photos available?)
  7. Quilts
  8. Duck decoys (explain what these are if needed)
  9. Carved figures, such as a coal miner and a bear
  10. Dolls: made of apples or cornhusks
  11. A lamp made out of walnut shells
  12. Paintings
  13. Baskets
  14. Focus on one type of object:
  15. Quilts
  16. Most of the students should be familiar with quilts, but perhaps give a quick review
  17. Made from pieces of fabric sewn together; covers a bed and provides warmth; not only this but the different designs and patterns in quilts give them an artistic quality.
  18. Quilts in the Tarble exhibit, listed by artist: (show photos)
  19. Elvia Baker Tarble: The pattern on this quilt is called Barn Raising. Ms. Tarble made the quilt by using scraps of leftover fabric. Why do you think this pattern is called Barn Raising?
  20. Amish quilt: This quilt was made by a woman from the Old Order Amish settlement in the Arthur/Arcola area of Illinois. (Explain more about the Amish if needed, emphasize their desire for simplicity) This quilt shows Midwestern Amish characteristics in that it has narrow borders and muted colors.
  21. Cora Meek: Two of her quilts are included in the Tarble Exhibit. Meek learned how to quilt from her mother, but the designs she created were entirely her own. She made this quilt from old blue jeans she collected and then sewed together in an abstract pattern. She had seen a denim quilt in a magazine and thought that she could create a better design. This other quilt, made later, has more recognizable designs sewn on it, because an antique dealer told Cora Meek that she would be able to sell more quilts if people could understand her designs.
  22. Make your own: Quilt Pattern
  23. Put photos of the Quilts in the Tarble exhibit in front of the classroom for reference and inspiration
  24. Materials: Fabric scraps, denim scraps, felt, other materials as available
  25. Supplies: Scissors and Elmer’s glue; tagboard for base
  26. Have students create designs, either based on familiar quilt patterns or of their own choosing; have them glue the scraps down on the tagboard base
  27. Wrapping up: Question time
  28. Why is folk art different from other types of art?
  29. Why are quilts folk art?
  30. Does anyone have any folk art at home? How do you know that it is folk art?
  31. Do you know any folk artists? How did they learn to make their folk art?