How to Make a Crayon Quilt

A crayon quilt is an elementary school class project for second through fifth graders that connects art and colonial American history. Introduce the subject by bringing a quilt to show. Then show slides or pictures of famous historical American quilts. Each student will design a square and then all the squares will be combined and machine quilted by a parent or other volunteer. The subject of the quilt squares can have a basis in research. Each student could be assigned to make a square about one of the 50 states or about another theme that the students are studying. The project will take several class periods to complete but it can become part of the class legacy as it remains on exhibit for many years to come.

Things You'll Need

• 36 6-inch square pieces of white drawing paper
• Box of fabric crayons for each student
• 36 pieces of 7-inch square white fabric
• Ironing board
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• 40-inch long by 40-inch wide cotton piece of fabric
• batting
• 1 1/2 yard piece of contrasting fabric cut into 40 1-inch wide by 40-inch long strips
• Straight pins
• Thread
• Cotton yarn

Instructions

1. Assign students to do research around the theme that the class has chosen for the quilt. Each student should be assigned a different specific research topic. Using what they learn from their research, the students must draw a rough plan for their quilt square. Do not permit letters or numbers to be used in the design. They are difficult to transfer correctly to the fabric. Some students may be assigned to do more than one quilt square for extra credit. You will need a total of 36 different quilt squares.

2. Color the final design on a 6-by-6-inch piece of white paper. Use fabric crayons. Press hard so that the color is strong. Collect the designs.

3. Place about an inch of newspaper on a board or ironing board. Cover this with a clean piece of fabric. Then place one of the 7-inch fabric squares on the board. Center the colored paper on top of the fabric so that the colored side touches the fabric and the blank side faces you. Turn the iron to high. Iron the paper until it turns translucent. This means that the crayon has melted into the fabric. Let the paper cool down before lifting it off the fabric.

4. Organize the fabric squares in a grid that is six squares across and six squares down. Place the narrow strips of contrasting fabric like the grid lines between each square and around the edges. Pin the quilt top together. Sew it using a 1/4-inch seam.

5. Sandwich the batting between the finished quilt top and the large piece of fabric. Use long straight machine stitches if you want to quilt it. A shortcut can be to sew and tie a 3-inch cotton yarn at regular intervals through the quilt.