Quilts have covered children in the cold, been a hobby for many and guided slaves to safety by hanging on clothes lines during the Civil War to signal safe houses on the Underground Railroad.
Now there is a chance for students at ETSU to take part in the making of a quilt that will hang in the MulticulturalCenter upon completion.
“I’m really excited about the quilt,” said Laura Terry, director of Multicultural Affairs.
The quilt is being sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and will be comprised of individual squares made by anyone who wishes to participate.
The squares will be turned back in to the multicultural affairs office and sent to Cleveland, Ohio, where storyteller Allison Smith will put the quilt in its final form.
The quilt will be returned to ETSU to hang in the new center of multicultural affairs.
“It will be a multicultural artifact for ETSU,” Terry said. “They may put anything they want on the square.”
Pieces have already been returned and await delivery to Ohio. Sororities have quilted their letters on the pieces, and a student turned in a square with Jesus Christ on it.
“The quilt will be hand-quilted,” she said. “She (Smith) already has an idea that the world will be in the middle with a phrase about ETSU on it.”
The pieces are 13 by 13 blank squares that may be picked up in the student affairs office for decoration.
“I would like for the students to decorate a piece or anyone who wishes to make a square,” Terry said.
The deadline for the quilt pieces to be returned to the Office of Multicultural Affairs is March 26. Call 439-4210 for more information.

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