From Many Pieces Come Warmth
Quilts and Community, led by Prof. Susan Wadley, is an interactive exploration of the role quilts and quilting communities play in the US and elsewhere. Each class includes one and a half hours of discussion, films,and exploration of quilts and their makers–and the communities that result. In addition, class participants spend an hour or more a week learning the process of quilt making through hands on instruction.
This semester the class completed five quilts which will be donated to the Syracuse refugee community through Interfaith Works. A strong “all hands on” quilting bee helped to accomplish this feat.
Class participants all felt their understanding of civic engagement was enhanced by the class. Stephanie Portmann reported, “This civic engagement experience has been different from previous volunteering experiences that I have had in many ways. Rather than working for one session, this project took an entire semester of work. I really enjoyed this experience because I had to overcome difficulties along the way and received a sense of personal satisfaction at the completion of the project.” Sydney Karp loved working with my ‘folk’ group and establishing her quilting technique to create a piece reflective of her group’s involvement and progress. And Laura Fidati “really enjoyed getting to know the girls in my group as well as the Chapel Quilters.” For Laura as for others in the class, it “feels good to make something so useful for people who truly need it” and instead of working solo, she got to work with others.
Watch for Quilts and Community in future semesters. No sewing experience necessary. Which also means you’ll learn to unsew as well as sew!