Quilt from the Garden
OBJECTIVE
Students will investigate color in the garden and create a fabrics from garden-based plants by transferring color through impact.
STEAM CONNECTIONS & KENTUCKY ACADEMIC STANDARDS
NGSS
Life Science: Inheritance and Variation of Traits - 3-LS3.B - Different organisms vary in how they look and function because they have different inherited information.
Art
Perceive, develop, and complete artistic work
MATERIALS
Variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and leaves from the garden
Smooth stones, wooden blocks, wooden or rubber mallets
Squares of unbleached muslin or whatever cloth you choose to use. I have used bandannas and even tee shirts.
PRE-ASSESSMENT
What colors are in the garden? How are these colors used by humans?
HELPFUL INFO
This is an eye opening activity for all ages – even adults. If you do not have a garden at hand, just collect vegetables, leaves, and flowers that are colorful. I recommend using beets (sliced or cut into small pieces), cherries, strawberries, colorful bell peppers, lily blooms, petunia blooms, geranium blooms and leaves,…..and anything else you want to try.
Things like blueberries are tempting to use but have a large moisture content and actually little color therefore make more of a wet spot than a colorful spot.
Tell students to make a design or pattern on the waxed paper if they like. I find it really helps to demonstrate the process to any age group of students. A combination of pounding and hard rubbing with the flat surface or the edge will give different colorful results.
PROCEDURES
On the way into the garden, ask students to see how many colors they can see in the garden.
If time allows, the leader could harvest some leaves and vegetables on the way in with the students. This will add about 10 minutes to the activity time. Easier – have carrots, beets, berries, red cabbage, green, yellow and red peppers, eggplant, blooms and green leaves and flowers – collected. Slice veggies into pieces (keep them in an air tight container and cool until ready to use to preserve the moisture).
In an area where it is ok to pound the veggies with stones and make a little mess, gather the students. I often use pieces of wood or cutting boards – or a sidewalk to do this activity.
Have a short discussion about how plants use the sun, air, water and soil to grow and to make their own food. For older students the word photosynthesis is appropriate.
To discover the colors in plants, give each student a piece of waxed paper and either a piece of white cloth or white paper. Allow students to select items from the garden and then the leader should demonstrate how to place the paper or cloth around the item and rub and pound it with the smooth stone or mallet.
Encourage students to try at least three different colored items from the garden. Before pounding the blooms, have students try to shake the pollen from the flower as it is quite colorful.
Put the pounded items into the compost pile. Fan the paper or cloth for a minute to dry the natural dyes. Wash hands immediately as many plant dyes will stain.
For a quick no-sew quilt, just lay the squares on a flat surface and tape together on the backs with masking tape.
Students may want to add their names with a sharpie.
This makes a really nice classroom or hallway display.
POST-ASSESSMENT
Ask students how they think colors in the garden have been used by past cultures. (Native Americans, pioneers and settlers and way beyond to medieval times) How are they used today? Point out that different colored fruits, roots and vegetables have high amounts of different vitamins and minerals. Science, Art, Social Studies, Speaking and Listening. Add a short writing assignment to explain the way the student made their square and you have a literacy component as well.
Developed by Darleen Horton