English 162w is a General Education Pathways course that offers a writing-intensive curriculum. Quiltmaking addresses a key learning object of the course, “Asking analytical, argument-driven questions about literature and culture” through close reading of poems and creative process essays then, creating a quilt piece based on a concrete or abstract image suggested by the poem.

Maxine Greene (1917-2014), the late Teachers College, Columbia, educational philosopher argued that, “If it weren’t for imagination, people would be in a box all the time.”. For the poetry quilt, students used materials from the QC Makerspace to imagine and create individual works of art, which were then combined to create a collective quilt on the course theme of Liminal Space, a quality or place that turns seemingly ordinary occasions into moments of transformation.

QC Makerspace provided all quilting materials for the students, and  offered a congenial workspace where students had an opportunity to collaborate on reading, interpreting, and writing, as well as quilting. In their writing, students observed that the QC Makerspace serves as an excellent example of liminal space, an on-campus location outside of the classroom that offers opportunities for reflection, collaboration, and ultimately, an embodied experience with the power of poetry to inspire personal and collective transformation.

Representing a collaboration of many hands, quilters used textiles, beads, paper, rubber gloves, masks, and other found objects to craft individual patches, then worked collectively to design and stitch the quilt. Displaying words and images, the poetry quilt is an illustration of the creative process at work. As Hunter College Professor Audre Lorde (1934-1992) affirms, “Poetry is not a luxury,” but a necessity for everyday life.

Students’ artwork used with permission