QUILTER | TEACHER | AUTHOR | FOUNDER
Some people think it’s wrong to write in books, but I’m glad my daughter Mary, who gave me my copy of Edward P. Jones’ THE KNOWN WORLD, wrote the date of her gift on the title page. In 2003, I … Read More
She became my sister-in-law when I was 21, my ex-sister-in-law when I divorced her brother at age 39. She remained my friend, championed my pursuits, cheered my successes, told me (when I was my family of four’s sole financial support) … Read More
Often, when I’m well into a really good novel, thirty or forty pages from the end, eager to find out how the author will tie up the multiple story threads she (or he) has spooled out in the early chapters, … Read More
The first time I told a group of quilters I didn’t have any unfinished projects, they responded with the kind of mild hostility acne-plagued teenagers direct toward the really-nice teenager with the perfect complexion. They were students in a workshop … Read More
The cover of Toya Wolfe’s debut novel, LAST SUMMER ON STATE STREET, tells us Wolfe grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes on Chicago’s South Side, so it was no surprise to find the story set in Chicago’s notorious projects. … Read More
In my twenties and early thirties, I taught many local women my age and older the basics of quilt making. Those basics included tool recommendations, hand and machine piecing, pattern drafting (not many books of patterns available in the late … Read More
Back in the 1990s, when TV screens were small and VHS tapes were the available vehicle for home movie-watching, I binged on a boxed set of LONESOME DOVE. I loved the story so much I drove to Barnes & Noble … Read More
I picked up Andrew J. Graff’s novel, RAFT OF STARS kind of as an assignment. Graff is among the presenting authors for this year’s Washington Island Literary Festival, September 15–17. I serve on the lit fest committee and volunteered to … Read More
A couple of years ago, I was lucky enough to make it into a special, yearlong writing class offered through StoryStudioChicago, a writing center located in the Windy City. The class, called “Novel-in-A-Year,” was to be led by one of … Read More
Among the neatest, newish attractions in my lovely little town is The Winterset Livery, a half-block-long brick building that in the nineteenth century was basically a garage for horses and horse-drawn vehicles. No surprise that the structure is just steps … Read More