American Patchwork: True Stories from Quilters

Beating Chicken Soup for the Quilter's Soul to the punch, this collection of quilters' anecdotes edited by freelance writer Hakala is aimed solely at a quilting readership. Coincidences, family legends and quilt-related epiphanies feature prominently in the 70 short pieces. Ginny Levin tells a charming story about learning to quilt as an adult, when she thought ""a bobbin was what a 'red, red robin' did in a song."" Renie Morse recounts a touching story of her yo-yo's effect on a stranger. Molly Wolf recalls a mother-in-law who quilted to her own tastes, never to the likings of whomever she planned to give the quilt: ""She knew what she wanted us to have."" Some of these stories, most of which run no more than two pages, lack confidence and distinction, and could have used surer editing. Though it's too bland to read straight through, taken one by one these tales will probably charm quilters, and the nuggets of truth and trivia peppered throughout-patchwork styles, slang, American sewing history-will keep them coming back.