A Stitch in Time…

By Rita Lorraine Hubbard

Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt, by Newberry and Caldecott Honor Book author Patricia C. McKissack, is the warm and cozy tale of a sisterhood of quilters, the beautiful quilts they produce, and the unbreakable bonds they form that only women can understand.

The story is told through the eyes of Baby Girl, a pampered baby playing underneath the busy stitching table. As Baby Girl grows, she watches mothers, sisters, aunts, grandma’s and friends stitch and socialize, sing and cry, and laugh and smile. She listens to their heart-warming stories of slavery and freedom, peace and hope and family and togetherness. She also watches their nimble, nut-brown fingers weave history and unforgettable memories into every stitch of cloth. When at last she is old enough to sit at the quilting frame and add her own careful stitches to the Gee’s Bend Quilts, she carries on the quilting tradition by weaving her own special memories into the carefully-chosen scraps of cloth.

Stitchin’ and Pullin’ is a wonderful addition to McKissack’s 100+ books about the African American experience. Its pages are beautifully illustrated in a patchwork of warm and inviting colors, and should be a pleasure for readers of all ages.

Share your opinion. Review This Book!