From the collection of:
Museum of the American Quilter’s Society || VAM Home

Cassandra Williams combined a variety of quilting and painting techniques to create this quilt honoring the famed Lewis and Clark expedition. The top panel shows Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea. Dwellings from Fort Clatsop are included in the bottom panel. Details in the quilt are authentic, based on the artist’s research. “Making this quilt has caused me to have a renewed interest in our country’s history. Now I want to travel the Lewis and Clark trail,” Williams says.

The quilt won Best in Contest at the Lewis and Clark Expedition Contest at the 2003 American Quilter’s Society Quilt Exposition.

About the Artist

Cassandra Williams of Grants Pass, Oregon, is a former oil painter who switched media to become a quiltmaker. She specializes in art quilts focusing on animals and nature.

Classroom Ideas

Discussion: Who is depicted on this quilt? Which man is Lewis and which is Clark? What clues help you determine this? Can you find out the name of the dog? Why do you think this quilt is titled “The Map Makers”? Why do you think the idea of creating a quilt based on the Lewis and Clark expedition would appeal to a quilt artist?

Activities:

Research visual references to the Lewis and Clark expedition in the quilt.

Choose another event from history, research it, and design a quilt using historically accurate elements.

Keep a detailed daily journal of the next trip you take, documenting the places you visit and the people you meet. Consider how difficult it was for Lewis and Clark to go on their journey of the unknown and the difficulties they faced when exploring lands and places that were not yet recorded on a map. Record the food you eat and problems you encounter on your trip. Draw a map of your journey.

Links

Read about the Lewis and Clark expedition and view maps created as a result of it at these sites:

• Discovering Lewis and Clark
  [www.lewis-clark.org]
• Lewis and Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery (companion site to the Ken Burns PBS documentary)
  [www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/]
• National Geographic
  [www.nationalgeographic.com/lewisandclark]

See other quilts by Cassandra Williams at the Mountain Stars Quilters Guild and at the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters.
[http://webpages.charter.net/mglory/gallery_wq.html]
[www.apnq.org/Quiltfest2002/Quiltfest200202.html]