Customer Reviews

Visions and Voices: The History of a Quilt Guild

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Verena Rybicki has written a book about women discovering the artist inside themselves, and about an organization that grows beyond its wildest dreams, launching some members into international fame. It is a book about mentoring and inclusion, learning and teaching. It is a book about women working together exploring possibilities for high art in a traditional craft.

A quilter of words as well as fabric, Verena has taken patches from interviews with members of The Quilter's Connecton and stitched together a book. As the pieces come together, an inspiring picture emerges of what women have created as they work together cooperatively.

So, if you don't quilt, like myself, but are interested in women's development, fostering creative identity, organizational behavior, and how women can help other women develop structures that focus and propel the power of feminine creative energy into the world, you will certainly enjoy this book.

As the title says, this is the history of a quilt guild. As one of the larger and older guilds in New England, the Quilters' Connection in Arlington, Mass, was founded in the seventies as the interest in quilting was beginning to re-awaken. Through interviews with both new and founding members the author presents a picture of a group whose strength lies in its diversity. Traditional and contemporary quilters, made up of students, teachers, designers and international individuals have helped over the years to create a group that recognizes all skill levels and talents. While a major part of the book is about the group's dynamics, I particularly enjoyed the portion devoted to the members' personal stories. These were very interesting and provided insight into how and why quilting has affected them individually.