Quilts in Colonial America were both functional and symbolic. When colonists left their home countries, they took only the bare essentials in personal items and clothing. The clothes they brought had to last a long time. But even when they wore out, they were not discarded. Each piece of fabric was cut into squares to make quilts for warmth during the long winter months. The patterns created from these squares represented their life experience. Quilters also created borders that formed a picture frame around their cloth "stories". Quilting is still popular today, telling stories through cloth and design.

OBJECTIVE

	Reinforce concept of resource conservation through recycling
	Introduce a form of creative expression with roots in Early American culture

MATERIALS

	Quilt block pattern, duplicated
	Crayons/colored pencils
	Bulletin board, push pins

INSTRUCTIONS

Using copies of the quilt block pattern provided, create a paper quilt by drawing colorful symbols in the squares that represent how blueberries were used by the Native Americans and early settlers. The symbols can be very simple, like a sun representing how blueberries were dried for winter or an ear of corn with some blueberries to show the main ingredients for the favorite dish Sautauthig.

Mount the squares on a bulletin board in rows to form a paper quilt.