No this isn't the book that made me cry either, but I've remembered another short story by yet another favourite US woman writer that has a quilt as its central theme, this one The Bedquilt by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.It's the weekend so crafts creep onto the blog, the crying book will feature early next week.
"Of all the Elwell family Aunt Mehetabel was certainly the most unimportant member.It was in the old-time New England days, when an unmarried woman was an old maid at twenty, at forty was everyone's servant, and at sixty had gone through so much discipline that she could need no more in the next world. Aunt Mehetabel was sixty -eight"
As dependent relative and family slave Mehetabel has little to call her own including her time but she does have a skill and that is piecing and quilting. Quietly setting to work on a new and very complex design the family suddenly realise she is creating a masterpiece and the quilt becomes central to their lives and earns Mehetabel some respect for the 5 years it takes to be completed.This gives me heart for the as yet unfinished Millenium Quilt. There's more, much more in this little story and in this book.
Dorothy Canfield Fisher was born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1879 and lived until 1958 publishing more than 40 books in her lifetime. As always here is a life that conceals a fascinating history including her championing of Montessori education, now a regular part of UK pre-school provision.
Quite a few of her books still readily available and amongst the best that I've come across must be
The Homemaker and The Brimming Cup
Now however, I'd really love to see that quilt.
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