From the Introduction:

Every day, millions of women, and some men, express their inborn desire for beauty in fabric, needle, and thread. Quilting is as much an expression of the human yearning to reach beyond this life as a novel or a cave painting, and for many people, it's more accessible.

From "A Patchwork of Words" by Earlene Fowler:

Just as most men appreciate a finely restored automobile, most women, whether or not they've ever threaded a needle in their life, cannot walk by a handmade quilt without stopping to admire its beauty and mystery. Something in quilts speaks to women and connects us—erasing everything that is different and highlighting everything that is the same.

From "Quilting for Love" by Maura C. Flannery:

"I started to quilt because of science, but now I quilt out of love. I teach biology and came up with the idea that there were similarities between science and quilting: both involve putting elements together to create new patterns, both are communal activities, and both require skilled work."