Stitching Stars

Art brings children together in a unique way.

Children benefit by reaching out to help others. Through the needle art of quilting I teach our children the American tradition of a quilting bee. Working together with laughter, friendship and creativity, enables children to reach out to someone in need. This positive process inspires children to continue this lifelong habit of reaching out from themselves to others.

I lead the classroom creation of quilt squares and other textile projects in Marin, having worked with over 4000 students in twelve years by sharing my passion for service learning and quilting.

Each class begins with a lesson in the history of quilting and the idea of
helping someone at the same time. Each child creates their own quilt square using age appropriate patterns and an appliqué technique. Often, after meeting with the classroom teacher, I are able to combine the current curriculum with the specific patterns used.

For example, I use folk patterns from a quilt at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C,, based on a slave quilt from the Civil War. Each square tells a story of the life of a slave during that period created by Harriet Powers, a slave from Georgia in 1837. Students love the choice of fabrics and working together in a “quilting bee”. I finish the quilts and return them to the classroom . The school exhibits the work before they are delivered to Oakland Children?s Hospital for their young patients.

The quilts are like a big hug for these young patients from the students.