Cloth & Comfort: Pieces of Women's Lives from Their Quilts and Diaries

by Roderick Kiracofe

In this gift-sized follow-up to his acclaimed American Quilt , Roderick Kiracofe continues to explore the beauty of the American quilting tradition and the lives of the women who have sustained it. Kiracofe combines excerpts from the diaries and correspondence of early-American women with selections from the varied literature of quilting, plus beautiful photographs of period pieces and memorabilia.

Genres: Quilting, Art, Nonfiction, History

61 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1994

Reviews

[Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a light read with lots of pictures, just kind of a love letter about quilts and quilters.

[Maria Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small book with letters and quilt’s photos useable to catch the atmosphere.

[Karima · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is a photographer who loves collecting quilts and in this book he shows how the two mediums document people's, especially women's, lives. The book concentrates on women of the frontier, those that left families and homes in the (north)east and Atlantic seaboard. Minimal representation of women of color.
The book is small, a mere 64 pages, maybe to coincide with the small patches of cloth used to assemble a quilt. I especially enjoyed the bits of women's diaries and letters which are not edited and contain misspellings and awkward punctuation.

[penny shima glanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book starts with an introduction explaining Kiracofe's interest in the work and then follows with a photo/quote book from women's diary entries surrounding their quilts. It's short and sweet. I had wanted more detail of these women and their quilts and their diary entries, but that was not really the intent of this short work (it's only about 61pages).

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a follow up to a larger book called The American Quilt. The way this book is set up to look like you are seeing pages of a person's diary is adorable. This would be a great gift for any quilter but also someone interested in domestic history. It is a quick read but full of charm. I borrowed it from someone at a B&B to read but would love to chance on a copy one day...

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primarily a picture book for adults, this book includes many diary entries by women about their sewing activities. It is an interesting, but a very quick read. It has made me interested in the author's other books on this subject.

[Violet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting & beautiful book, but could have been longer and more in depth.

[Teresa Okesonprater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short fun visual book.