Redwood Room

Gretchen Hopkins

"The human hand allows the mind to reveal itself."

-Maria Montessori

In the Redwood Room, we were drawn to shibori-style indigo dyeing because of the way it uses universal materials to create unique pieces of art. Each child used wood blocks and cotton string to compress and tie fabric, and was given free choice in how to apply dye. The result was a pattern that was individual to each person who made it. The children interpreted their patterns differently: they saw snowflakes, bamboo, redwood trees, water, and more.  

Method: We folded strips of white cotton cloth, then compressed them with wood blocks, tied them tightly, and applied dye. After the dye had set, the children enjoyed unwinding the string, rinsing out the excess dye, and unfolding the strip of cloth to reveal a beautiful, unique pattern. Once each child had created a pattern, the strips of cloth were sewn together with a binding and backing to create a wall hanging. After the hanging was put together, it went back to the classroom so the students could use their hand stitching skills to sew quilting lines into the cloth with cotton thread.