9th-Graders Stitch Their Ideas Together

To help her ninth-grade class at Grant High School learn how to make an American quilt, teacher Eilene Motzkin turned to “How to Make an American Quilt.”

The 1995 film starring Winona Ryder details a quilt project undertaken by women who weave together stories as well as fabric. Organizers of the Grant quilt project, actually a joint effort by the high school and Cal State Northridge, say the film highlights the expressive, collage-like quality of quilts.

“We talked a lot about the idea [in the film] that in quilts we recycle our past,” Motzkin said.

“Kids were able to see that all of their individual qualities can be used for the greater good,” said Debbie Joseph, a Sherman Oaks resident pursuing a master’s degree in textiles at CSUN.

A specialist in quilt making, Joseph, 39, did much of the overall design of the quilt, which is divided into four panels that illustrate elemental themes of air, earth, water and fire. Each ninth-grader provided a 12-inch square that was stitched into the finished product. Since November, Joseph has met with Motzkin’s class weekly.

The squares incorporate various objects, including buttons, photos and even corrugated cardboard into personal expressions. The border between the squares reinforces the overall theme of each panel.

The quilt will be unveiled Thursday. CSUN’s North Gallery will exhibit the students’ work daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. beginning Friday and continuing through Feb. 6. The school also has entered it in a competition sponsored by UCLA, which is seeking 20 student-made quilts for an upcoming exhibit.

Motzkin and Joseph expressed hope that the project, which arose from a Los Angeles Unified School District goal of more interaction between schools and local colleges, can be replicated in the future.

“It doesn’t really hit them until they see the finished product. When they saw the whole thing Friday, they just went, ‘Oh!’ ” Motzkin said, widening her eyes.