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Diverse Books Inspire Quilt For Library

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By ANGELA DELGADO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 18, 2008

TOWN 'N COUNTRY - Marilyn Hood has been a resident of the Town 'N Country area for 40 years, and come December she will leave a piece of herself in the community.

When the Town 'N Country Commons makes its debut, a quilt made by Hood and members of the Quilters Workshop of Tampa Bay will be hanging inside for all to see.

This isn't the first quilt the group has made for a library - their work also hangs inside the Jimmie B. Keel and Jan K. Platt libraries - but it is the first that features classic books for children and adults.

The quilt will have 16 blocks with depictions of famous literary works, such as "Les Miserables," "Alice in Wonderland" and "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Hood, an executive board member of the Friends of the Town 'N Country Regional Library, said the group chose a diverse group of books for the diverse community.

In the middle of the 16 blocks is a rendering of the Town 'N Country Commons, which will house the Town 'N Country Regional Library. Hood is going to embroider "Town 'N Country Regional Library" on the top of the quilt and the word "library" in different languages along the sides and bottom.

"It was just beautiful beyond words, and the work in it was just incredible," said Laura Vickers of the Hillsborough County Library Advisory Board. "What a really nice thing she's doing for the library."

Although Hood isn't doing all the work, she did draw the patterns for the blocks and is taking care of the embroidery. That's not much to ask from Hood, though, since she has been quilting for 12 years.

Her love of quilting began while she was teaching and somebody brought a quilt to her classroom.

"I said, 'Oh, I'm going to make a quilt when I retire,' and I haven't stopped," she said. "I enjoy the whole process. It's an art form to me. It also keeps me busy, keeps my hands moving."

Hood has won several awards and has one of her quilts in the Quilt Art 2009 Engagement Calendar, but she mainly makes her quilts just for fun.

The process to make the classical-books quilt a reality began last fall when the Town 'N Country library staff chose the books for the quilt. Hood has most of the pieces to put the quilt together, then it will go to a person who can bat it and finish the work.

Hood is aiming for a September finish date, since they want the quilt in its case inside the building in time for the Dec. 1 grand opening.

"I just think it's going to be beautiful," Hood said. "I love the colors and excitement of the books. I hope that they're the community is proud of it. I really do. We kind of put our hearts into it."

Reporter Angela Delgado can be reached at (813) 865-1501 or adelgado@tampatrib.com.

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