Quilt of Dreams
| Title: | Quilt of Dreams |
| Author: | Mindy Dwyer |
| Illustrated by: | Mindy Dwyer |
| Quiltmaker: | Jody L. Buhay |
| PDF Lesson Plan: | Click for PDF of Lesson |
| Images: |  Click quilt to enlarge  |
| ISBN: | 0-88240-522-5 |
| Synopsis: | After her grandmother's death, Katy and her mother find a stack of quilt patches and a note that reads "Kate's quilt.” As the first snow falls, Katy resumes her goal to finish the quilt Gram had started for her before she died, including her grandmother's favorite birds. Katy enlists the aid of her mother, who promises to give her Gram's special scissors when she has mastered her stitches. As Katy struggles with her needle and thread, she and her mother wonder about the significance of the pattern, which is revealed through Katy's dream of migrating cranes. The girl then recognizes the repeating pattern of triangles as cranes, special to Katy from her early childhood dreams, harbingers of spring for the far north and, for Gram (whose scissors are shaped like a crane), a symbol of tradition. |
| Concepts for Discussion: | Cranes Finishing the quilt together Mystery |
| Questions for Discussion: | 1. Is there something special to remember in all of Gram’s quilts? The red squares are the glow of the hearth. 2. Why does Katy want to know what is special about her quilt? Both she and her mom know that they have to figure out what is special about her quilt? 3. What does this quilt look like that causes Katy to throw it down and get frustrated? Katy gets frustrated because it takes so long and her stitches are not so neat. 4. What happens on one Saturday morning when Katy is trying to do her best work? She picks her fingers with the needle and blinked back tears. 5. Why does Katy’s mom explain to her what the scissors are like? She teaches Katy to understand what the scissors really mean – that is to say tradition. 6. What is a blizzard quilt? They would sew all of the scraps into a “blizzard quilt.” 7. Why do you suppose Katy’s grandmother chose the triangles for Katy’s quilt? The mother conjectures that it sure is a mystery. 8. Why do you suppose that Katy dreamed of the flying birds? Katy’s memory was triggered by the flying birds because other emotional ties to her gram’s memories. 9. What did mother and daughter do over the next few weeks? They quilted the pieces together until it was complete. |
| Recommended Web Link: | http://www.mindydwyer.com/ |
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