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McGuffey School students in grades kindergarten through four have been working hard making quilts for the community.

The students helped design five quilts, which were quilted together by family members of the students and friends in the community, said Sabrina Jewell, organizer of the project.

Jewell said this project was popular among the students and the quilters enjoyed making the final product.

"This project is important to the children as well as myself because there is a real community effort taking place here," she said.

Last fall, students at McGuffey had the opportunity to see the Gee's Bend quilts exhibit at Miami University, containing works from some of the most celebrated artists in the Alabama town.

The students became fascinated with the exhibit and this started the buzz about quilting.

Nelly Bly Cogan, a grandmother of one of the students, introduced quilting to Jewell soon afterwards. She invited her to come to the quilting group that she leads every Wednesday with women in the community.

After talking to the quilters, Jewell realized this would be an excellent project for the students to take part in.

Community quilters Joan Cub and Gene Metcalf met with the students and showed them what the quilting process looked like.

Craft Summer Leader Joyce Ponders helped Jewell put together five kits for the students to design an individual square. The students met in early February with Ponders and other quilters in the community.

Students decorated the cotton muslin squares any way they wished and then gave the pieces to the volunteer quilters for them to sew them together, Jewell said.

"The students saw something that was slightly unfinished become a final product," Jewell said.

The quilts have been on display at the Oxford Lane Library for the past few weeks.

The quilts will be auctioned off at the third annual Casual Night with the Arts on May 17 at Grandfather's Barn on Stillwell-Beckett Road.

All of the proceeds will benefit the McGuffey Foundation School.

Jewell said the quilting project was the students' main art project of the year. Each year the students take part in a large project together. Last year the classes made yard gnomes. During the previous year students made wooden furniture.

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