Do you love to quilt AND love to read? I invite you to join the free, online Quilters' Book Club. Each month, we read a book, discuss it through comments on my blog posts, and then make a quilt block to represent that book. I research several potential blocks to go with the book's themes, setting, main characters, and events. And I find the patterns free on the internet, making it easy for everyone to access. Each member can choose the block or blocks they'd like to make.
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Our book to read and discuss during April 2014 is A Thread of Truth by Marie Bostwick. It's the second book of her Cobbled Court Quilts series.
The main character in the book is Ivy Peterman. Ivy flees an abusive husband and ends up in New Bern, Connecticut, where she is befriended by Evelyn Dixon, owner of Cobbled Court Quilts. In New Bern, Ivy works hard to create a new home for herself and her family.
If you would like to create a quilt block to represent Ivy Peterman, here are some ideas to get you started:
Broken Heart Quilt Block
English Ivy Quilt Block (also called Clover Blossom)
Hearth and Home Quilt Block shown above
Vines at the Window Quilt Block
The most dangerous time for a woman being abused is when she tries to leave someone. Does that explain why Ivy is less than forthcoming with the details of her life? Does that justify lying to her boss? To her caseworker at the shelter? Where would someone in your community go if she was trying to escape from an abusive spouse? By commenting, you'll be entering this month's give-away of Marie Bostwick's newest book APART AT THE SEAMS, just out! Three lucky people will each win a copy, courtesy of Kensington Publishing! If you are reading this via email, you must click on the title of my blog post to be able to comment and read the comments of others. The winner will be announced on May 1.
Looking ahead to the May Book Selection: These Is My Words: the Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine by Nancy Turner, Historical Fiction based on the life of the author's great-grandmother, set in Arizona Territory, 1881-1901
You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post Snow Quilt Block and the Last Word.
This doesn't go with the book, but I love this block. I will answer this question. Yes it is very dangerous when a person is leaving an abusive situation. In some cases it is ok to lie if that person cannot be trusted. My children were preforming in a recital. My mother was not invited. My kids wanted this one family member to come. They turned around and gave the tickets to my mother's sister, who gave the tickets to her. She came and created a big seen. My daughter crawled under the table and would not come out for 30 minutes. I think at times it is ok to lie. You have to trust people. And at that some of them can't even be trusted.
ReplyDeleteIn Tokyo there are shelters for women and children who want to escape a situation of abuse. Tokyo English Life Line has counselors who can get help. The phone number is readily available. There still seems to be a problem with children who are abused. Even when a student comes to school with bruises or burns and does not respond to questions about them, the school is not likely to take any action. I think it is a very hard cycle to break.
ReplyDeleteI can understand her lying to hide from that man. I don't know where the shelters are in my area. I know I could find one quickly, using the internet and a cell phone to contact someone. I know in many areas the addresses are NOT listed for safety of the women. Smart idea.
ReplyDeleteI live in a very small town in NY near the border with CT. There is no shelter available locally, but luckily there is a Womens' Shelter about 35 minutes away in CT. Their website features a button to hit if the abuser enters the room while a woman is viewing the website. It disengages the connection so that the abuser cannot be detect the woman was viewing it. When I was in high school, one of my friends fled her home along with her mother and sister to get away from her father. That was in 1965 when the problem was not spoken about publicly.
ReplyDeleteI know that there is a shelter in a town about 20 minutes away from me.
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