Suggested (beginner to intermediate) projects: 

Meet with the mathematics instructor at your school. Ask to have a lesson in the mathematics of a geometric tessellation design.

Talk with the school or public librarian. Ask for books and videos that illustrate tessellations in architecture. Be prepared to explain what comprises a tessellation and how to identify one.

Using a digital camera, collect pictures of tessellations found in every day objects (egg cartons are an easy place to begin). Look for tessellations in nature as well.

Write a short story with an old quilt as the focal point. Show the reader where it was made, where it traveled, and how it might have been part of a family’s life.

Interview an older community person who quilted or whose relative quilted. 
     What part did quilts play in the lives of that person? 
     What technologies were used to make quilts in the past? 
     What technologies are used now? 
     How has the change affected the way quilt making is done today? 
     What are the social reasons for these changes?

Collect books and magazines from libraries and quilters. Using these resources determine what makes an effective tessellation. 
        Contact quilt makers who have had their work exhibited in national magazines to learn about their work.

Using the Internet:
     find URLs that relate to quilting in West Virginia or the Appalachian states.
     determine free resources available to help with this study. 
     contact a local quilting guild and ask members to talk about quilt making. 
     ask for volunteers to help the class with its quilt-making project. 
     visit the juried West Virginia quilt exhibit at the Cultural Center in Charleston.
     make an appointment with the Curator to see the quilts owned by the state.
     determine if any of the quilts are tessellations or would make tessellation quilts.

Look for examples of tessellations in antique quilts. You may use magazines and books. 
     Write about the time when the quilt was begun (and perhaps finished at another time). 
     Some quilts are made for special events; describe a special event and how it was celebrated at the time the quilt was made.

Read a copy of the play, The Quilters. 
     Find pictures of the quilt blocks described in the play. 
     Create the blocks in the play. 
     Design a tessellation block that would fit one of the scenes in the play. 
     Present the play to the community.

Invite a graphic artist to meet with the class. 
     Ask the artist about his or her work.
     Ask the artist to bring artwork to the school for discussion. 
     Contact the WV Arts Commission or local Arts Council to bring an artist in residence to the school. 
     Create new and exciting tessellation works in a "studio" atmosphere.