Eventually, after discovering yet another affair, she leaves him whilst pregnant. Despite the promiscuity of her artistic husband Dean, she stays with him for a period of time.

With her feet in the pool, she remembers what her husband tried to remind her of all those years ago, and one of the last scenes shows her diving off the high dive.Įm marries young, like most of the women in the story. Years later, when the wind blows part of Finn's thesis into the pond, she wades in to get it. Abandoned, bitter, and trapped in a life she didn't want, Sophia ends up like her overbearing mother, particularly in her relationship with Finn. One morning, he leaves for work, never to return. After she rejects his efforts, he realizes her free spirit is gone. Trying to remind her of the girl he fell in love with, he tells her the pond is for her to wade in. One day she snaps at Preston for digging a pond in the back garden. With three children and little help from Preston who is frequently away because of his job, she no longer has time to dive and eventually forgets the feeling of freedom and escape it gives her. However, motherhood turns out to be just as, if not more, oppressive and married life soon grinds her down. He's attracted by her fearlessness and she believes he can take her away from her current, oppressive way of life. One day she meets Preston Richards while diving at the local pool and romance ensues. In her early 20s, Sophia was a talented diver with dreams of escaping her small town and overbearing mother. Eventually, wrapped in her quilt and following a crow (reminiscent of Anna's tale about her aunt), she comes across Sam and chooses to stay with him. As Finn is unsure whether she's ready for marriage or if he's 'the one', the women's stories in the quilting group open her eyes to the different kinds of love that exist.ĭuring her time at her grandmother's, she meets Leon at the local pool and they have a brief affair. The theme of the quilt is 'where love resides'. At her grandmother's, a quilting group congregates, and she's shocked and surprised to discover that the current quilt that they're working on is a wedding gift for her when she gets married. Following her boyfriend Sam's proposal, Finn visits her great aunt and grandmother to finish her thesis and think over it.

The film received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. It was a box-office success, grossing $41 million against a $10 million budget. How to Make an American Quilt garnered mixed reviews from critics. Amblin Entertainment optioned Otto's novel in 1991, and were able to persuade Steven Spielberg to finance the screenplay's development.

Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, the film features Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan and Alfre Woodard. How to Make an American Quilt is a 1995 American drama film based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Whitney Otto.

Great-Grandma's Gifts by Marianne Jones