Raffle quilt: Broadway Jane

Image from Empire Quilters

I visited the Empire Quilters website this morning and was totally blown away by their 2009 Raffle Quilt, shown here with permission. If all raffle quilts were this amazing the world would be a better place in terms of donations and aesthetics.

The New York based guild describes this quilt as their interpretation of the Dear Jane quilt made by Jane A. Stickle in 1863. They explained that Jane was made famous by living author Brenda Manges Papadakis in her book Dear Jane: The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt. You can visit Brenda online at Dear Jane to learn more about her as an author.

Fans of the Dear Jane quilt are making their own, called Baby Jane quilts. Check out a Baby Jane quilt along at That Quilt blog that started in January 2009. So far, followers have made 112 of the 225 blocks needed. Go here to see instructions. Hopefully these instructions will be archived.

Via Whipup Roundup newsletter

Lots of Americans seem to think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day, but that holiday actually falls on Sept. 16.

May 5 is the celebration of the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans defeated the French in 1862. Independence Day marks the beginning of their fight for independence from Spain in 1810. That was the day of what’s known as El Grito de Dolores, or the cry of Dolores, for when the Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the church bells at his church in Dolores and declared that Mexico should be free from Spanish rule.

They would fight for their freedom until 1821 when they finally gained independence.

Fabulous Classroom has a little of the history and ideas for celebrating the holiday for all age groups. There’s also a link to a good video in that post about the real story of Mexican Independence Day.

Twinkl also has a good tops about the history and different activities, discussion ideas, crafts and foods that can be incorporated into lessons at school or used at home.

I also found a few pins that no longer link to a website but include good information on Mexican Independence Day, including some questions for students to answer based on the reading. You can find more printables and questions for kids from TX Homeschool Mama on Etsy (also available in Spanish).

You can find a lot more paid resources about Mexican Independence Day at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Mexican flag crafts are a fun option for celebrating Mexican Independence Day (though the current iteration of their flag has only been in use since 1968). Kids Activities Blog has a free Mexican flag printable and a few different ideas for decorating it including dot markers and torn tissue paper.

You can also find some great Mexican crafts at Red Ted Art. The post includes all sorts of Mexican inspired projects including Day of the Dead crafts, Frida Kahlo pinatas and upcycled musical instruments. I love the giant paper flowers they shared from Honestly WTF.

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