The Underground Railroad stitching is in full swing. The camera has come along every day, but there have been very few opportunities to use it. Ms. T., the art teacher, and I are on our own, and really missing the extra grown-up hands we had last year.
The students are doing great, happily stitching along, their needles "diving down and coming up for air" (the weaving lingo Ms. T. applied to stitching). I just love seeing their hands in action, and calling proudly across the room, "Ms. M., Look!" as they hold up their work.
They each made a gel print with stencils of forest, fauna or stars to symbolize the woods or sky, where the runaways hid and traveled through, or looked to for direction. Above they chose a "sky" fabric, where they will eventually stitch a message. The piece below represents the ground or the Ohio River that many crossed on their journey to freedom.
And, Jude, I did ask them what the pages of their stories would be made of? (see Jude's post here.) There were several video games, basketballs, and soccer fields, but there was also cloth, yarn, paper, markers, candy and cardboard replies.