The Reader's Shelf: When Life Gives You Scraps, Make a Quilt

Quilts have been around for centuries, but no country has done as much to develop the craft as the United States. Ladies stitched quilts in Colonial times, took quilting with them as America expanded westward, and even used quilts as signals to guide slaves along the Underground Railroad. Quilting bees were a popular social activity in the 1930s and 1940s as homemakers were forced to “make do” with fabric scraps. Today, quilting has grown into a respected art form and a popular creative outlet for thousands. The following titles explore the world of quilters and quilting in fictional form.

Perhaps the best-selling quilting novel of all time, Whitney Otto's HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT (Ballantine. 1992. ISBN 0-345-37080-5. pap. $6.99), follows the lives of eight members of a quilting group as they work on their own projects and a wedding quilt for Finn, the granddaughter and grandniece of two of the members. The reader comes to know each woman and how her quilt relates to a particular turning point in her life.

Beginning with Fool's Puzzle, Earlene Fowler's contemporary Benni Harper mysteries take their names from quilt patterns. The sixth novel, however, MARINER'S COMPASS (Berkley Prime Crime. 2000. ISBN 0-425-17408-5. pap. $6.99) is a mystery without a murder. A strange and enigmatic man leaves Benni his estate but not until she completes a complicated scavenger hunt. (Some important clues are supplied by a librarian!).

Another quilt-related mystery is solved in Barbara Michaels's STITCHES IN TIME (HarperCollins. 1999. ISBN 0-06-104474-1. pap. $6.99). Bad things happen to people who come in contact with a mysterious quilt anonymously donated to Cheryl and Kara's vintage clothing store. Part-time employee Rachel, who is researching handicrafts in women's history for her master's degree, soon discovers that not all quilts are made with good intentions.

Jennifer Chiaverini launched her very popular “Elm Creek Quilters” series with THE QUILTER'S APPRENTICE (Plume: NAL. 2000. ISBN 0-452-28172-5. pap. $14). In her latest, Circle of Quilters (S. & S. 2006. ISBN 0-7432-6020-1. $23), two applicants for teaching positions at the Elm Creek Quilting Camp must design an “Elm Creek Quilt” block.

Quilt historian Sandra Dallas's second novel, THE PERSIAN PICKLE CLUB (Griffin: St. Martin's. 1996. ISBN 0-312-14701-5. pap. $12.95), is set in Kansas during the Great Depression. The weekly quilting circle takes its name from the fabric used in their quilts, referred to affectionately as the Persian Pickle fabric.

A mysterious Latina and a minister with a past share a special chemistry in Emilie Richards's ENDLESS CHAIN (Mira: Harlequin. 2005. ISBN 0-7783-2198-3. $19.95), the second installment in her quilt-inspired “Shenandoah Album” series. Part romance and part mystery, this novel introduces us to the congregants of a small-town Virginia church, their quilting group, and the volunteers at La Casa Amarilla, where Spanish-speaking students are tutored.

We travel to the Arizona Territory of 1906 in Nancy E. Turner's SARAH'S QUILT (Thomas Dunne Bks: St. Martin's. 2005. ISBN 0-312-33262-9. $24.95). Sarah Prine battles hardships of life as a rancher: fire, drought, severe weather, a stampede, cattle rustling, a poisoned well, stolen money, and a tough choice between two suitors. While quilting, Sarah meditates on the pros and cons of the major life decisions facing her; the eponymous quilt remains a minor character until the novel's conclusion.

Originally published in 1907, Eliza Calvert Hall's AUNT JANE OF KENTUCKY (Univ. Pr. of Kentucky. 1995. ISBN 0-8131-0838-1. pap. $16) is a series of heartwarming stories told by the fictional Aunt Jane to her niece, usually as she is piecing together a quilt. Most of the stories concern the citizens of Goshen, KY, and some of the stories are about Aunt Jane herself. Quilters will find a kindred spirit here, especially in “Aunt Jane's Album,” the tale in which Aunt Jane shows her niece the many quilts she has made in her life and tells their stories. The new foreword by Bonnie Jean Cox provides an interesting history of this book.

Cuesta Ray Benberry and Carol Pinney Crabb's LOVE OF QUILTS: A TREASURY OF CLASSIC QUILTING STORIES. (Voyageur. 2004. ISBN 0-89658-082-2. pap. $14.95) was first published by the American Quilter's Society as A Patchwork of Pieces: An Anthology of Early Quilt Stories, 1845–1940. Drawing on such publications as Godey's Lady's Book, Harper's Bazaar, and Good Housekeeping, this anthology presents 28 stories about crazy quilts, quilting bees, African American quilters, and moral tales for young girls required to do a certain amount of stitching per day. The volume includes a bibliography of quilt fiction.