/ 2008 Archived Material / Call for Quilts

Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail^™ Call for Quilts

by Jane Blaile

 

Call for Quilts

As of last count, I have 19 quilt commitments for the Common Threads Quilt Project.  If you'd like to participate and share your world with a school along the trail, e-mail me or Diane Johnson and I will link you up with a school in Alaska. I have 9 (or more) schools that need a quilt commitment. Read the following description and see if you can help.

 

The Common Thread Quilt Project

 

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race brought together people from all over the world and still does today.  We all have something in common with the people, places, and dogs that are part of the Last Great Race.  These common threads go beyond the fact that we are all teachers or people who need food and shelter, although those are important to understand because they show how we are alike.  But if you dig deeper, there are amazing instances of commonalities between people.

 

Iditarod Quilt Project was started at the summer conference 2005 to join together character education - students learning values of good character.  Teachers designed quilt squares that gave messages of successful living and good character.

 

My goal for The Common Thread Quilt Project is to "sew" together people from outside of Alaska with the school contacts along the northern route through a quilt gifting. It would be meaningful for them to receive a quilt made specifically for them.

 

Why is this important? 

• This opens up communication between your students and students who exist in a very different world. 
• It teaches your students how to serve people they don't know and may never see.
• In this electronic age, it gives students some tangible communication that lasts and can't be deleted.

 

What kinds of quilt squares?

• telling about the culture where you live
• telling about the students in your class
• the sky's the limit!

 

YOU can help.  All it takes is:  handkerchiefs (for squares), permanent markers, a sheet for backing, someone to sew the squares together, and your imagination.

 

Please consider making and sending a quilt to a school along the Iditarod Trail.  I hope to see the quilts at the schools I visit there.