Quilting for Peace
$19.95
Hardcover, 136 pages
Abrams Books / STC Craft / A Melanie Falick Book
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Quilting for Peace is really two books in one
First of all, it’s a collection of stories about quilters who quilt to change the world. I interviewed an extraordinary assortment of women (and a few men) for this book. Some have organized groups of quilters to provide warm bedding to people made homeless by poverty, violence, or natural disasters. Some make quilts to comfort those who are sick, hurt, or grieving. And still others use their craft to raise money and draw attention to a cause—the AIDS quilt is the most famous of these. The quilters I encountered during the making of this book had a few things in common: practicality and old-fashioned resourcefulness; considerable persuasive and organizational skills; a firm belief in justice and people’s responsibility for each other; and a faith in patchwork’s ability to absorb the maker’s care, respect, and on occasion outrage, and to let whoever touches the quilt feel those as well. These needle-wielding activists made me believe I could do so much more to make a difference in the world, and I hope they’ll do the same for you.
At the same time, Quilting for Peace is a pattern book, full of the sort of simple, flexible patterns I like best. You can follow them to the letter or use them as starting points for your own designs. I hope they’ll give you hours of the kind of peace I can only find at my sewing table.
The book includes 15 projects from super-easy to not-too-difficult, including:
Three baby quilts and other gifts for kids
A pink string quilt to support breast cancer
Tote bags you can make in half an hour
A sleeping bag designed for the homeless
Quilts to honor wounded and fallen soldiers
