How to make an American Quilt

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How to make an American Quilt
Whitney Otto
Fiction, 1991
paperback, 236 pages

This is one of the rare ocassions when the movie version I watched first is at par with the book I read later. I recommend the reading of the book and the watching of the film.

In sum, the lives we lead, married or unmarried,  bound by law or not,  is the life we chose and we need not explain that to everyone with whom our personal story has no meaning. But vis-a-vis this conclusion is the happy realization that there is no straight line in leading our lives, so being married like being unmarried has no guarantees for what happens in the future, to our happiness.

But while you will feel so confident with your decisions in life, by reading the book, one can get aquainted with the history of quilting, appreciate how it greatly contributed to the American culture, and also feel how the law greatly changed the lives of women.

On page 188, the Philippines was even mentioned there.

But the movie, as I can remember, is vivid given the colorful patterns in that make up quilts. As in life, we live and lead different lives but we are all similar when it comes to the people we love, the sentiments we share, the tolerance, the kindness, the justice we fight for, the story we keep in our hearts.

I recommend the movie and the book for those who have marriage jitters like Finn, the narrator. In the end, after knowing the history of people in the quilting circle in her grannies' hometown, she realized that she will get married with Sam, come what may.

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