SPRINGDALE — Melissa Davis said she constantly hears students say they will never use math outside the classroom. She started a quilting club at Har-Ber High School to prove them wrong.
Thirteen students — four boys and nine girls — met Tuesday for the first club meeting in Davis’s classroom, where she teaches math. They discussed fundraisers, fees, a service learning project and the types of quilts they want to create. Davis said she’s quilted for more than 30 years, and spoke to her students about the creativity involved in making quilts.
“Quilting is a very social activity, but it’s also very expressive,” she said during the meeting.
Meeting Information
Har-Ber High School Quilting Club
When: 11:15 a.m., fourth Tuesday of each month
Where: Room B112
Students in the club will use math skills by measuring and cutting fabric; will learn history through quilts of different cultures; and use science studying the durability of fabrics, Davis said. Students will also have to use problem solving skills to put their quilts together.
“I can’t think of any subject it doesn’t touch,” she said.
Quilting involves math, and more difficult quilts take a lot of math to complete, said Margie Engel, grant chairwoman for the National Quilting Association.
“You have to adapt all those pieces and parts to go together mathematically,” she said.
Quilting can also help improve a teen’s self-esteem, because it shows them they can be productive and accomplish something, Engel said.
In addition to making quilts for themselves, club members will do a service learning project, Davis said. The students have not yet chosen their project, but options include making quilts for veterans or the elderly, she said.
Sarah Lundstrom, 17, joined the club as a way to give back to the community. She said she wants to create a quilt she can give to someone at a nursing home.
Quilting is a new skill for most of the students in the club, Davis said. Only one student has made a quilt. Davis will start by teaching the basics of design, cutting and sewing.
“I want to teach them those good habits from the very beginning,” she said.
Davis said she plans on teaching her students how to create T-shirt quilts because they are popular among teenagers. The project will teach students how to recycle old shirts and fabrics to create a quilt. It will also serves as a history lesson, because it mimics the tradition of people making quilts from old clothing to save money and resources, she said.
Members of Quilters United in Learning Together of Northwest Arkansas, a local quilt guild, donated fabric and two sewing machines to the club, Davis said. Davis will also bring one of her sewing machines to school for her students to use. Some guild members have agreed to come to club meetings to teach quilting skills and help students with their quilts.
“They don’t want the craft to die and they want to pass it on,” she said.
Springdale High School doesn’t have a quilting club, said Patricia Millsop, office secretary.