7 episodes

The Quilting Life on the Written Page, as read to you by award-winning author Frances O'Roark Dowell (Birds in the Air, Margaret Goes Modern, Dovey Coe, Shooting the Moon). In Season One, Friendship Album, 1933, tells a heart-warming story of strangers brought together by quilting and made into family. In Season Two, Dowell reads Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall. First published in 1907 and set in rural western Kentucky in the late nineteenth century, the book recounts an elderly quilt-maker Aunt Jane’s memories of life in the rural south as told to an unnamed younger woman visitor. The book was hugely popular in its time, reaching over a million readers, and President Theodore Roosevelt was one of Aunt Jane’s biggest fans.

The Quilt Fiction Podcast Frances O'Roark Dowell

    • Fiction
    • 5.0 • 11 Ratings

The Quilting Life on the Written Page, as read to you by award-winning author Frances O'Roark Dowell (Birds in the Air, Margaret Goes Modern, Dovey Coe, Shooting the Moon). In Season One, Friendship Album, 1933, tells a heart-warming story of strangers brought together by quilting and made into family. In Season Two, Dowell reads Aunt Jane of Kentucky by Eliza Calvert Hall. First published in 1907 and set in rural western Kentucky in the late nineteenth century, the book recounts an elderly quilt-maker Aunt Jane’s memories of life in the rural south as told to an unnamed younger woman visitor. The book was hugely popular in its time, reaching over a million readers, and President Theodore Roosevelt was one of Aunt Jane’s biggest fans.

    A Conversation with (and a Short Story by) Marianne Fons

    A Conversation with (and a Short Story by) Marianne Fons

    Several years ago, I picked up a used copy of the late, great journal, Quilt Digest, published and edited  by Roderick Kiracoffe and Michael Kile. To my surprise, this particular issue (Issue 3, published in 1985) contained a short story by Marianne Fons. I had no idea that along with being a famous quilter, Marianne was also a writer!
    Fast forward to -- oh, I don’t know. 2018, maybe? One day, out of the blue, Marianne Fons emailed me. After years of backburnering her writing life, she was back at it. She’d come across my book Birds in the Air and was curious who my agent was. With that email, a correspondence and eventually a friendship was born.
    So when I started thinking about what -- and whose -- stories I wanted to read on the Quilt Fiction podcast, Marianne came immediately to mind. I emailed her for permission to read her story from that long ago issue of Quilt Digest, and she graciously gave her permission. Not only that -- she agreed to be interviewed for today’s episode!
    One of the reasons I love talking to Marianne about writing is because she’s so passionate about it. If you want to know more about Marianne’s life story, and more about her quilting story, here’s a link to an interview I did with her in 2020 for the Quilt Alliance’s Story Bee show. If you’re not familiar with the Quilt Alliance, it’s a nonprofit organization that serves to document quilters and their stories. You can visit the Quilt Alliance by clicking on this link. 
    Visit Marianne’s website to read her blog and stay up to date with what she’s reading and quilting. While you’re there, sign up for her email newsletter! Check out Marianne’s pride and joy, the Iowa Quilt Museum.
    Marianne took a year-long workshop at StoryStudio Chicago. Both in-person and online writing classes are available. 
    Remember: It’s not too late to sign up for Quilt Fiction’s first ever QAL! For more info, follow this link!
    (Photo by AZUREE WIITALA https://www.azureewiitala.com

    • 1 hr 29 min
    Magic Fabric, Quilts... and Love - 'Persimmon Moon: A Quilting Story"

    Magic Fabric, Quilts... and Love - 'Persimmon Moon: A Quilting Story"

    Host Frances O'Roark Dowell reads her short story, "Persimmon Moon," and discusses the importance of world-building to fiction writers. Plus, a special giveaway for February over at QuiltFiction.com.

    • 51 min
    Chapters from a new, contemporary Milton Falls story

    Chapters from a new, contemporary Milton Falls story

    Spring has arrived and to celebrate all things new, we’re sharing the first three chapters of my new quilting novel Diary of a Mad Quilter on today’s episode. Normally, only paid members of the Quilt Fiction Story Guild have access to this story (they are already on Chapter Six), but we’re excited about the new story and thought you might be too.
    Set in contemporary Milton Falls, Ohio, Diary of Mad Quilter is the story of avid quilter and retired third grade teacher, Marnie Fetzer. Marnie lives with her husband, Darrell, who just retired from his engineering job, and she’s still best friends with her high school BFF, Shiela. Son Sam lives on the other side of town with his wife and toddler twins, while daughter Katie makes her home in Atlanta. These days, Marnie’s life revolves around quilts, quilts and – well, quilts.
    We hope you enjoy the first few chapters enough to consider an annual subscription to the Story Guild. As a subscriber, you’ll get weekly chapters of Friendship Album: Forget-Me-Not, bi-weekly updates to Diary of a Mad Quilter, along with access to the complete audio versions of Friendship Album, 1933 and Aunt Jane of Kentucky, plus other Milton Falls stories and big discounts on everything in the Quilt Fiction Shop. 
    To celebrate having you on board we’ll mail a packet of Friendship Album-themed vintage postcards right to your door. We'll also send you a coupon for 50 percent off the downloadable audiobook version of Friendship Album, 1933 -- a $15 value.
    Not ready for an annual subscription just yet, please consider a month-to-month subscription for $10 and convert to an annual membership at any time. 
    See you next time!
    Frances
    In the post-story section, I mentioned several books and articles. Here are the links for more information:
    Remembering Adelia: Quilts Inspired by Her Diary by Kathleen Tracy
    The Civil War Diary Quilt: 121 Stories and the Quilt Blocks They Inspired by Rosemary Youngs
    Quilts from the Civil War by Barbara Brackman
    Cloth and Comfort: Pieces of Women’s Lives from their Quilts and Diaries by Roderick Kirocofe
    The Quilt Alliance
    Mountain Mist Patterns
    Women's Quilts and Diaries: Creative Expression and Personal Resource by Gail R. Davis

    • 1 hr 33 min
    A New Friendship Album Christmas Story: Starry Night | Emmeline (1919)

    A New Friendship Album Christmas Story: Starry Night | Emmeline (1919)

    This week, we spend time with Emmeline Grangerfield as a young bride finding her way in Milton Falls. Yes, it’s the annual Friendship Album Christmas story! Enjoy!
    Be sure to download your free "December Star" quilt block pattern.

    • 48 min
    A Conversation with Author Sandra Dallas

    A Conversation with Author Sandra Dallas

    A new year of Quilt Fiction fun has begun! We’ve just dropped the February Quilt Fiction Podcast episode, which includes  a wonderful interview with novelist Sandra Dallas. While Sandra has never set out to write quilt fiction per se, she’s clearly got a heart for quilts. In novels such as The Persian Pickle Club, Alice’s Tulips and The Diary of Mattie Spenser, quilts and quiltmaking are central to her characters’ lives. In this episode, Sandra talks about her own days as a quilter as well as some of the quilts that she’s collected over the years. 
    We’re doing two giveaways to celebrate this month’s podcast! The first is from February’s Quilt Fiction sponsor, Oliso, home of cutting-edge fabric tools tailored to the needs of quilters and sewists. Oliso has generously provided a TG1600 ProPlus autolift iron, the M2Pro travel iron, and a fabulous ironing board cover for one lucky listener to win. 
    Our second giveaway is a copy of The Persian Pickle Club, which is our February Book of the Month. If you haven’t read The Persian Pickle Club, you’re in for a treat. If you have, you’ll enjoy it just as much the second time around!
    You have until March 1st, 2024, to enter to win one of these two great prizes!
    Not only do we have a Book of the Month, we have a Block of the Month! For February, Block of the Month is “Rocky Road to Kansas,”  a paper-pieced block you’ll need a pattern for–and we’ve got a free pattern pdf on our website that you can download by clicking here. New to paper-piecing? We have a how-to video up on the Quilt Fiction YouTube channel. (Note: This is my first-ever how-to quilting demo, and it’s a little goofy.)
    One of our February projects is overhauling the Quilt Fiction website to make it easier for you to navigate. We have SO much content that it’s taken us a while to get it all sorted out. There  are free audio stories, and we’ve got the ongoing online  World War II Diary, From the Homefront Diaries of Lorraine Shatterbuck. You can listen to the first five chapters of Friendship Album, 1933, for free as well. If  you ever have a question about how to find something, please don’t hesitate to email us at help@quiltfiction.com.
    I want to remind you that if  you want quilt fiction audio stories in your email box every week, along with access to a huge archive of quilting stories available to members only, you can sign up for my patron supported Story Guild podcast. For only $6 a month, that’s a lot of fiction! If you’re not ready to make a commitment, try our $10 a month membership, which you can cancel at any time.
    Thanks so much for being a part of the Quilt Fiction community! I hope you enjoy this month’s podcast episode!
    xoFrances
    P.S. Did you get your copy of our free pattern, Eula’s Hen House?

    • 1 hr 4 min
    From the Homefront Diaries of Lorraine Shatterbuck

    From the Homefront Diaries of Lorraine Shatterbuck

    In this month’s episode, I’m sharing a work-in-progress with you, From the Homefront Diaries of Lorraine Shatterbuck. I seem to be writing a lot in diary form lately–I’m also writing Diary of a Mad Quilter, a contemporary story about an avid quilter.  Both of these diaries, by the way, are available to read for free on the Quilt Fiction website. You can listen to the audio version of Diary of a Mad Quilter by joining the Quilt Fiction Story Guild for as low as $6 a month. 
    We’ve got three great sponsors for today’s episode: Suzie Quilts, Fat Quarter Shop and Denyse Schmidt Quilts! Our sponsors have provided some really nice things for this month’s giveaway. We’re doing two giveaway bundles for March–the first one includes three patterns of your choice from the Suzie Quilts pattern shop plus a Hip Hop Hooray  Layer Cake from Fat Quarter Shop. The second giveaway bundle is a year-long membership in Denyse Schmidt’s Patchwork Panel Club, and this one is big–we’re talking a $165 value! Among other things, you’ll get four different fabric panels delivered to you throughout 2024. Each panel features nine mix-and-match fabric designs from the DSQ fabric archives printed on luxuriously soft, high-density quilting cotton and is over two yards of fabric.
    March 2024 Block of the Month
    The March 2024 Block of the Month is the Stars of Stripes block first published in Aunt Martha’s Work Basket and reprinted in newspapers across the country beginning in 1941. 
    Stars of Stripes block 
    March Book of the Month
    The Quilt by Gary Paulsen, which is one in a trilogy of books that are based on Paulsen’s grandmother. The main character in The Quilt is an unnamed  six-year-old boy, but this isn’t a sweet and cozy story. Even though the narrator is very young, this is a book for older, more mature readers. I think a thoughtful sixth grader might get a lot from it, and mature 7th and 8th graders even more so. In a way, I think the readers who might get the most from this are adult women. 
    The Quilt takes place during that time Paulsen lived in Northern Minnesota when he was a young boy. In the story, he travels with his grandmother to a remote farm, where a much older cousin of his is close to giving birth. Her husband is fighting in the war, and she’s tending to the farm by herself. Shortly after the boy and his grandmother arrive, the cousin, Kristina, goes into labor. With that,, the women of the community arrive. The labor is long, and while the women wait, they work on a quilt together. It's a quilt made up of scraps, each one telling a story about a family member’s life, and the women tell the boy all the stories that the quilt contains.

    • 1 hr

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
11 Ratings

11 Ratings

P2013W ,

Great

This is a fantastic story. I listened on a the way to work. A great way to start the day. It is also lovely to listen to as you sew. Can’t wait for the next one.

Staceysrus ,

Fantastic

Oh my! I was so upset when the episode ended, I want to hear more! The reader’s voice is lovely to listen to.

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