Frances O’Roark Dowell wears many hats: podcaster, author, quilter, and President of Quilt Alliance. She may be best known for her “beloved books for tweens and teenagers”; however, since 2010 she has hosted the popular “Off-Kilter Quilt” podcast, where she talks about her latest quilt projects with friends and fellow quilters around the globe. In 2016, Frances established a small publishing company to bring out a line of stories and novels especially for quiltmakers and quilt lovers. The quilting novel Birds in the Air was followed by the short story collection Margaret Goes Modern. Stars Upon Stars, a sequel to Birds in the Air, will be published in the next upcoming months. In addition, as President of Quilt Alliance, Dowell has a deep interest in quilt history and the documentation of quilts and the quilting community. In 2015, she and her husband made a short documentary on Uncle Eli’s Quilting Party, an annual quilting event that began in 1931, in Alamance County. Frances O’Roark Dowell lives in Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, two sons, and a dog named Travis.
Birds in the Air introduces us to Emma Byrd, who has just moved into the house of her dreams in the small mountain community of Sweet Anne’s Gap, North Carolina, where she knows that making friends may prove to be her biggest challenge. Her husband loves his new job and her kids are finding their way at school. But Emma, no natural when it comes to talking to strangers, will have to try a little harder, especially after the sweet, white-haired neighbor she first visits slams the door in her face.
Luckily, a few of the quilters of Sweet Anne’s Gap adopt Emma and she soon finds herself organizing the quilt show for the town’s centennial celebration. But not everyone is happy to see the job go to an outsider, especially one who has befriended an outcast pursuing her own last best chance at redemption. With Birds in the Air, Frances O’Roark Dowell has created a warm, funny novel about fitting in, falling out and mending frayed relationships one stitch at a time.
The Crystal Coast Quilters' Guild will be partnering with the Friends of Western Carteret Library for a special author's talk and quilt exhibit. This special event will be held at the Western Carteret Library Annex, 230 Taylor Notion Road, Cape Carteret, NC. More details to come.
Birds in the Air introduces us to Emma Byrd, who has just moved into the house of her dreams in the small mountain community of Sweet Anne’s Gap, North Carolina, where she knows that making friends may prove to be her biggest challenge. Her husband loves his new job and her kids are finding their way at school. But Emma, no natural when it comes to talking to strangers, will have to try a little harder, especially after the sweet, white-haired neighbor she first visits slams the door in her face.
Luckily, a few of the quilters of Sweet Anne’s Gap adopt Emma and she soon finds herself organizing the quilt show for the town’s centennial celebration. But not everyone is happy to see the job go to an outsider, especially one who has befriended an outcast pursuing her own last best chance at redemption. With Birds in the Air, Frances O’Roark Dowell has created a warm, funny novel about fitting in, falling out and mending frayed relationships one stitch at a time.
The Crystal Coast Quilters' Guild will be partnering with the Friends of Western Carteret Library for a special author's talk and quilt exhibit. This special event will be held at the Western Carteret Library Annex, 230 Taylor Notion Road, Cape Carteret, NC. More details to come.