Wisconsin Women Library Workers
Designer and Assembler: Christie Brokish
Quilt Coordinators: Kathy Rohde and Mary Knapp
Winner: Barbara Vater
"Lyme House Restaurant" by Sylvia Brown
Ellen Hart, Minneapolis author and former chef, created the characters Jane
Lawless and her best friend Cordelia Thorn, flamboyant theatrical director.
When mysterious things happen to their friends and acquaintances, Jane and
Cordelia become sleuths and methodically or serendipitously discover the
truth.
"Gym" by Barbara Hanaway
One for the Money is Janet Evanovich's first mystery story about Stephanie
Plum, a bounty hunter/detective. This square depicts a scene from the book.
Evanovich has begun a mystery series librarians love. . .Two for the Dough is
the second book and Three to Get Ready will soon be published. . .you never
have to figure out which book comes next in the series!
"S is for Sue Grafton" by Sue Searing
My square celebrates the popular mystery series that Sue Grafton launched in
1982 with "A" is for Alibi. Grafton's books feature a gutsy female private
eye, Kinsey Millhone, and are set in the fictional California city of Santa
Teresa. Along with a growing number of other contemporary women writers (my
favorites include Sara Paretsky, Linda Barnes, and Marcia Muller), Grafton
has reclaimed the hard-boiled detective genre for today's feminist reader.
The cross-stitched alphabet motif, reminiscent of Colonial samplers, is
inspired by Grafton's list of titles -- "M" is for Malice is her latest. The
photo transfer in the square's center, reproduced from a computer generated
image, adds a modern, hard edged touch.
"Miss Scarlet in the Library with the Rope" by Nancy McClements
I first became interested in mysteries as a child by being my own sleuth in
the board game "Clue." The (literally) colorful suspects, the beautifully
depicted rooms, and the gruesome playing parts (guns and candlesticks) made
me want to be a detective. Soon I was reading Nancy Drew and Agatha
Christie. Now I play "Clue" with my nieces and nephews. I'm happy to see that
in this age of computers, a simple board game with a good premise can still
hold their interest. The bookshelves in this square use the strip quilting
technique and embroidery. I added "realia" from the game for a macabre touch.
"A is for Alibi" by Kate Odahowski
Another square honoring the popular alphabet mystery series balances the
design in our "Women Sleuths" quilt.
"Meg" by Marge Loch-Wouters
Intrepid detective Meg Mackintosh solves mysteries like no one else. The
books on this sleuth are written by Lucinda Landon and are written for
budding mystery buffs in grades one through three. I included a rebus in the
quilt square design to underscore the "solve-it-yourself" element found in
all of Meg's adventures. This square was pieced by Jean Sandvidge Wouters.
"Kat" by Julie Chase
Kat Colorado is an intelligent, practical, private investigator who learned
much of what she now practices back when she was a bartender. Her creator,
Karen Kijewski, won the Best First Private Eye Novel of the Year Award for
her first Kat Colorado novel, Katwalk. She is also the winner of the Shamus
and Anthony awards. Kat Colorado is now featured in seven mystery novels and
continues to develop a faithful readership. Now, if she'd only dump the dumb
boyfriend! The practical side of Kat would appreciate why I chose to
represent her on this quilt square. . .even I could attach a cat to something
representing the state of Colorado!
"Zora Neale Hurston" by Christine Jenkins
Detectives aren't the only ones who solve mysteries. Zora Neale Hurston was a
scholar and writer whose books, including Dust Tracks in the Road and Their
Eyes Were Watching God, were based on her research as an anthropologist and
folklorist. For my square I chose Hurston and her definition of research to
celebrate not only Hurston's work but all other women--past, present, and
future--engaged in research. Working in archives, labs, libraries, and "rooms
of their own," these sleuths solve large and small mysteries every day. For
my square I used computer scanning to create a photo transfer, plus ribbon
and rickrack.
"Baker Street" by Jane B. Robbins
Laurie R. King, is an Edgar Award winner for A Grave Talent in which she
features San Francisco police officer, Kate Martinelli; also in this series
is To Play the Fool. The quilt square is inspired by King's The Beekeeper's
Apprentice, in which Mary Russell, a late 19th century Oxford University
student, becomes an apprentice to Sherlock Holmes; Russell quickly grows into
a formidable sleuth in her own right. (A second book in the Russell series is
A Monstrous Regiment of Women.) This square was designed, and in part
completed, while in England where I stayed several days just blocks from
Holmes' famous 221B Baker Street. Thanks go to my librarian daughter, Molly
Robbins, who introduced me to Laurie R. King and whose love of bees sparked
part of the concept for this quilt square's design.
"Nancy Drew" by Kathy Rohde
I was alarmed recently to learn that the Nancy Drew mystery stories existed
long before I knew them. The 1959 (the year of my birth) first edition of The
Secret of the Old Clock I purchased at an antique store seemed like the first
book ever written. I read all of Nancy's adventures and loved her no-nonsense
approach to life. She was independent, had cool clothes and a convertible,
too! When I think of childhood, I think of reading -- I spent hours and hours
reading. When I think of reading, I think of Nancy Drew.
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Last update: November 10, 1999
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