Quilting and Patchwork

Creating ABC Quilts with School Children

by Mary Emma Allen on May 12th, 2006

I had an enjoyable day today helping sixth graders complete their ABC quilts.   This project has been a yearly one at our local school, where I often substitute teach.  The students have been working on these quilts for awhile, and today it was time to put them together.

The young people have worked in groups of two or three to plan their quilt as part of their math class.  They chose their designs, drew up their patterns, learned how to cut, and then, with an adult’s help, sewed the blocks together.  Today we stitched on a border, then put the top and back together with a batting.

The ABC Quilt project was begun by Ellen Ahlgren of Northwood, NH in 1988.  It commanded nationwide attention, and a book, Kids Making Quilts for Kids, was written about it which our school uses for the project.  Making these quilts for babies enables the students to learn about AIDS and drug abuse while helping others. 

This topic also is coordinated with their reading, language arts, health, science, and math classes.

 Kids Making Quilts for Kids: A Young Person’s Guide for Having Fun While Helping Others and Learning About AIDS and Substance Abuse/ABC Quilts

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