Traveling Resource Trunks

Kansas Women and their Quilts

Grades 4 - 6

Ideas for using this trunk with different ages and with youth groups.

Explore Kansas history through the quilts women made and used from the Oregon Trail to recycling in the 1930s to today. Quilts, videos, historical documents, and photographs enable students to explore women's roles and responsibilities in settling Kansas through social studies, reading, math, and art activities. The social, aesthetic, and functional uses of quilts in women's lives are explored.

Trunk Specifications

Weight: 56 lbs.
Dimensions: 31" x 22" x 16"
Insure for $500 when shipping

Kansas Curricular Standards Connections

Teacher's Manual:

The curriculum is divided into fifteen lessons. It was designed so that you might use all fifteen lessons as a comprehensive unit or might pick and choose only those activities that fit into another unit of study. Therefore, each lesson was designed to stand by itself. Lessons contain both objectives and assessments. Historical background information and a vocabulary list is also included.

Introduction

• Quilts are a link to the past. In this curriculum they are used to talk about both Kansas history and family history. A great deal of literature exists on the subject of quiltmaking. Unfortunately, a great many myths and inaccuracies have made their way into print. One of the goals of this project was to provide an accurate of history of quiltmaking.

Lesson 1 - What is a Quilt?

• Learn what a quilt is and why they were made as you study several quilts.

Lesson 2 - Our Patchwork Past: A Story of Quilts in Kansas History

• Watch a video, learn how pioneers used quilts, and learn why quilts are an important part of Kansas history.

Lesson 3 - Packing the Wagon Train

• Explore early settlement in Kansas with historical documents and photographs.

Lesson 4 - Types of Fabric

• Explore natural and man-made fibers and how they were used in quiltmaking.

Lesson 5 - Fabric Sources

• The importance of 19th century catalog shopping is explored as students calculate the materials they need to make a quilt and fill out an 1895 order form.

Lesson 6 - The Sewing Box

• The tools and equipment of sewing are explored as you examine a reproduction sewing box.

Lesson 7 - The Importance of Learning to Sew

• Historic photos and diary excerpts show the importance of sewing in earlier centuries.

Lesson 8 - Quilt Pattern Names

• See the connection between quilt patterns and their names as you examine quilts, play a matching game and design a quilt block.

Lesson 9 - Quilts as Recycling

• Compare and contrast recycling in the 1930s and 1940s with today. Explore why cloth sacks are a wise packaging alternative.

Lesson 10 - The Emotional Meaning of Quilts

• Use a historical photograph and a fictional book to explore the value of quilts.

Lesson 11 - Cooperative Quiltmaking and Aesthetics

• The benefits of cooperative work and the limits of stereotyping work by gender are examined using quilts, historic photographs, and a fictional story.

Lesson 12 - Quilt Math

• Study geometric shapes, angles and mathematical calculations as you examine quilts and quilt blocks.

Lesson 13 - Oral History

• A video is used to explore the importance of oral history.

Lesson 14 - Fabric Printing

• Design your own fabric as you learn how patterns are placed on some fabrics.

Lesson 15 - Sewing a Quilt Block

• Sewing skills, aesthetics and math are used as you design and create a quilt block.

List of Trunk Contents

The Kansas Historical Society developed the Kansas Women and Their Quilts traveling trunk with partial funding provided by the Kansas Quilt Project, Inc. and the Kansas Arts Commission.

Looking for other programs or activities?

The Kansas Historical Society has a variety of programs available for your use including other traveling resource trunks; traveling exhibits; guided tours of state historic sites, the state Capitol, and the Kansas Museum of History; and online resources. For more information on these contact the Education and Outreach Division at 6425 SW 6th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615-1099; 785-272-8681, ext. 414, Fax 785-272-8682; or education@kshs.org.

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