Paper Quilts
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Holiday time—gifts are opened, ribbons and wrappings scattered, someone starts to clean up. Wait—don’t throw away that gift wrap, save it to make a paper quilt. Children love this craft project, which will occupy them happily while dinner is being prepared. Working with simple geometric shapes cut from wrapping paper, it is easy to make a design that echoes the pieced quilts made in America beginning in the nineteenth century. The traditional geometric patterns of pieced quilts often had names and regional variations. Some were group efforts, with several people contributing squares to be assembled and quilted at a quilting bee. Quilts were often made from fabric purchased especially for that purpose, but some were made from scraps, just like these paper quilts. You can use paper quilts to preserve holiday or birthday memories. Experiment by adding shapes cut from greeting cards or paper napkins. Try pasting a snapshot onto the central square of your quilt—the result can be a framed photograph that, in itself, would make a lovely gift. Making paper quilts is easy.
—Nancy Joroff |
