Rating: 
Summary: As Dull as a Darning Needle
Review: Directions on how to make a quilt stitch the patches of a community's quilt-makers' lives together. An interesting concept. If only the short stories, the tales of the ladies sitting at the quilting frame, were interesting. Unfortunately they're about as dull as a straight stitch.I expected the stories of Finn, Glady Jo, Hy, Anna Neale and the others to be joined with intricate stitches, with rich fabrics; to flow much like the pieces they stitch togehter once a week. Instead they are seperate scraps joined simply by the thread of "belonging." They are connected simply because they get together once a week to quilt. I guess I expected another PERSIAN PICKLE CLUB, or maybe it was the "short story" aspect that attracted me, but I was disappointed. I suppose I should have paid closer attention to the metaphor in the "directions" before each story.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting concept.....
Review: How to Make An American Quilt by Whitney Otto HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT is a patchwork of lives that make up a quilting group. The ladies all live in Grasse, California, a small town outside of Bakersfield. Whitney Otto wrote this short novel by interspersing chapters dedicated to quilting, in-between chapters dedicated to each of the quilters in the group. What I didn't figure out right away was that each chapter that described the quilting related to the character description of the next quilter. Each person was different and therefore each quilt that could be created by each woman, had different aspects to it. I have to confess I found the chapters on quilting a bit dull, and it is probably because I am not a quilter. I love to look at quilts; I love to feel them. But reading these chapters on the process of quilting was trying my patience. However, I understood what the author was attempting to do, to compare a quilt to a group of women whose lives were patched together and somehow made them one. The chapters that talked about the history of each character were very interesting, and I saw how they all were somehow connected to the others. Reading the book was a walk through history, as the women were of varying ages and spanned generations. We got to see Hy and Glady Joe as they are now, in their old age, but also what they were like in their younger years. We saw Anna and her daughter Marianna grow and mature as black women living in a white society. And then there is Finn, who is the narrator of the book. She is the one that is building this patchwork of people, helping to tell the story of women whose lives are somehow intertwined. I found this book very easy to read, but I didn't find it as interesting as I think it could have been. I feel the author missed her mark, although I give her points for the idea.
Rating: 
Summary: Every Woman Must Read!!
Review: I felt that this was an wonderful read. This book takes you through the lives of several differant women. Each has a differant yet beautaful love stories. The women are united together to make a quilt. Each step in the quilting has to do with each of the womens love. This is a great reading for any women!!
Rating:
Summary: A woman's work is never done
Review: I listened to the audio book. I learned how life might have been like near Bakersfield, California, during the Depression. That was interesting, even though things did seem a little slow. Probably, that's exactly how it was, slow, and if you like action, this audio book will seem real slow, too. But interesting. One thing you can avoid, making it probably more like the movie that some reviewers seemed to like, is that the quilting instructions are minimized on the tape. You can just kind of sleep through those. I did, because I couldn't make heads nor tails of them. If quilts had something to do with Grecian art, I'd have to say, "it was all Greek to me," but they don't, so.....it's all Grasse to me. The only thing, I think, this analogy thing can be a crutch for an author (some reviewers called it a metaphor, I'm not choicy). Talk about a quilt, talk about a life. Or vice versa. In that sense, the story reminded me of the Legend of Bagger Vance, a golfer's version of the Bhagavad Gita. It was one of the most boring things I had ever heard, and golf also ranks up there. But it did make me think about the Gita (don't become attached to the results of your actions, or "just do it"). The men in Whitney Otto's story seem pretty weak, by and large. The white people seem pretty conflicted about race, and that's probably an accurate reflection of Bakersfield in the 1930s, if not today. Diximus.
Rating:
Summary: A woman's work is never done
Review: I listened to the audio book. I learned how life might have been like near Bakersfield, California, during the Depression. That was interesting, even though things did seem a little slow. Probably, that's exactly how it was, slow, and if you like action, this audio book will seem real slow, too. But interesting. One thing you can avoid, making it probably more like the movie that some reviewers seemed to like, is that the quilting instructions are minimized on the tape. You can just kind of sleep through those. I did, because I couldn't make heads nor tails of them. If quilts had something to do with Grecian art, I'd have to say, "it was all Greek to me," but they don't, so.....it's all Grasse to me. The only thing, I think, this analogy thing can be a crutch for an author (some reviewers called it a metaphor, I'm not choicy). Talk about a quilt, talk about a life. Or vice versa. In that sense, the story reminded me of the Legend of Bagger Vance, a golfer's version of the Bhagavad Gita. It was one of the most boring things I had ever heard, and golf also ranks up there. But it did make me think about the Gita (don't become attached to the results of your actions, or "just do it"). The men in Whitney Otto's story seem pretty weak, by and large. The white people seem pretty conflicted about race, and that's probably an accurate reflection of Bakersfield in the 1930s, if not today. Diximus.
Rating:
Summary: Great, but the movie was better
Review: I read the book only because I loved the movie. I expected the book to contain more storyline and depth, but I was terribly disappointed in finding that the movie in fact was by far, more informative. The book itself was very original: comparing a quilt to love and life. It's blend of fiction and non-fiction was done successfully by Otto. However, one thing that lacked in Otto's book was a main character. It seemed that there were numerous supporting characters, and an attempt to create the main character Finn, and yet Finn had the least lines out of all of them. If more info and depth was written about Finn, then Otto's book would have been as successful as the movie. However, because it lacked in this factor, I was majorly disappointed and gave it only 3 stars when it deserved 5.
Rating:
Summary: A Favorite
Review: I really enjoyed this book. Enjoyed the metaphors between quilting and relationships.
Rating:
Summary: How to Make an American Quilt~
Review: In How to Make an American Quilt you will meet the ladies of the Grasse Quilting Circle. Glady Jo, her sister Hy, and friends Anna, Marriana, Constance, Sophia and Em gather once a week in Glady Jo's home to assemble quilts. Their current project is to assemble Hy's grand-daughter, Finn's, marriage quilt. It is during this process that we get a glimpse into each of these women's love stories and learn what stitches & fabrics their individual marriages are made up of. I felt slightly disadvantaged reading this novel, after having seen and loved the movie dozens of times. When I realized the movie was based on a novel by Whitney Otto, I couldn't wait to delve into it. Because I love the movie so much, I found it very hard to be objective while reading the book. To it's credit, the movie follows the book very closely. The novel does provide some additional tidbits, but overall, I didn't feel that I learned a whole lot more from the book. This book was well written and uniquely drawn, tying in the intricacies of quilt making with each woman. What we learn from the story is how different and complex marriages can be in various shapes and forms, but the common string that binds them all is one of love.
Rating: 
Summary: A very nice book...
Review: This book was a great read, and very much a women's book. But, I would highly recommend the movie over the book any day.
Rating:
Summary: Unless you're a quilter....
Review: Whitney Otto's How To Make An American Quilt is an interesting, but slow story. This very short book has alternating chapters of people then quilting instructions. There is a parallel between the instructional chapters and those of the quilter that she describes in the following chapter. Over all I did not enjoy this book because I did not care about the characters. An unfaithful husband, a cool wife, a woman who sleeps with their sister's husband, and the like just do not hold my interest as someone I am concerned with. When there were but 50 pages left in the book I found a character I did enjoy. The instructional chapters were tedious. Thankfully it is well written.
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