Trisha Faye

AVAILABLE NOW: (Click on each book and it will take you to the Amazon site for details. Books are also available through Barnes and Noble.)

We leave traces of our lives behind us - sometimes in the most unusual ways.

Eighty years ago, the women and young girls of Athelstan, Iowa left pieces of themselves behind, stitched on muslin squares. In 1934, women in the community formed a quilting club. Quilt blocks with Sunbonnet Sue’s and Overall Bill’s were created and signed with their signature. The blocks were traded with one another and a few quilts were made.

Nellie Morris had other plans for her squares. She signed her block ‘From Mother, To Doris’ and added the year ‘1934’ in the bonnet. A set of 30 squares, 27 signed with names, went to Doris, most probably as a Christmas present, since it was in December.

Doris grew up. She married and had children. She and her husband grew older. And, the squares sat together in a stack. For the next 70 years, never stitched into a quilt.