6.3/10
10,470
52 user 32 critic

How to Make an American Quilt (1995)

PG-13 | | Comedy, Drama, Romance | 6 October 1995 (USA)
Bride-to-be Finn Dodd hears tales of romance and sorrow from her elders as they construct a quilt.

Director:

Jocelyn Moorhouse

Writers:

Whitney Otto (novel), Jane Anderson (screenplay)
Reviews
4 nominations. See more awards »

Photos

Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kaelynn Craddick Kaelynn Craddick ... Young Finn
Sara Craddick Sara Craddick ... Young Finn
Kate Capshaw ... Sally
Adam Baldwin ... Finn's Father
Winona Ryder ... Finn
Dermot Mulroney ... Sam
Ellen Burstyn ... Hy
Anne Bancroft ... Glady Joe
Maya Angelou ... Anna
Alfre Woodard ... Marianna
Lois Smith ... Sophia
Jean Simmons ... Em
Kate Nelligan ... Constance
Denis Arndt ... James
Rip Torn ... Arthur
Learn more

More Like This 

Boys (1996)
Drama | Mystery | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5/10 X  

Patty Vare falls off a horse and is found unconscious by preparatory school student John Baker. He takes her to his dormitory. As he quickly discovers, she is hiding from something. For ... See full summary »

Director: Stacy Cochran
Stars: Winona Ryder, Lukas Haas, John C. Reilly
Mermaids (1990)
Certificate: PA Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

An unconventional single mother relocates with her two daughters to a small Massachusetts town in 1963, where a number of events and relationships both challenge and strengthen their familial bonds.

Director: Richard Benjamin
Stars: Cher, Bob Hoskins, Winona Ryder
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

It is 1977, Dublin rocks to the music of Thin Lizzy and the world is stunned by the death of Elvis Presley. Frankie, caught between acne and adulthood, has just completed his final exams in... See full summary »

Director: David Keating
Stars: Catherine O'Hara, Jared Leto, Christina Ricci
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.7/10 X  

Romantic drama about an aging playboy who falls for a sweet, but terminally ill, young woman.

Director: Joan Chen
Stars: Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, Anthony LaPaglia
Certificate: PG Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

A small town prepares for the homecoming of superstar Roxy Carmichael, as does a young outsider, who believes Roxy is her mother.

Director: Jim Abrahams
Stars: Winona Ryder, Jeff Daniels, Laila Robins
The Last Word I (2008)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

A man (Bentley) who makes his living composing other people's suicide notes enters into a romance with the sister (Ryder) of a recent client.

Director: Geoffrey Haley
Stars: Wes Bentley, Winona Ryder, Ray Romano
Basil (1998)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

A lonely young aristocrat in turn-of the century England stuggles to meet the approval of his over-bearing, class-conscious father while trying to please the selfish woman he loves.

Director: Radha Bharadwaj
Stars: Christian Slater, Jared Leto, Claire Forlani
Certificate: R Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

A rancher, his clairvoyant wife and their family face turbulent years in South America in this adaptation of Isabel Allende's best-seller.

Director: Bille August
Stars: Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Maria Conchita Alonso
Reality Bites (1994)
Certificate: PG Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

A documentary filmmaker and her fellow Generation X graduates face life after college, looking for work and love in Houston.

Director: Ben Stiller
Stars: Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo
Square Dance (1987)
Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6/10 X  

Gemma is 13 years old lives and with her grandpa in the country, she has for many years. One day her mother shows up, and wants to take Gemma to the city. Her mother is married now, and can... See full summary »

Director: Daniel Petrie
Stars: Jason Robards, Jane Alexander, Winona Ryder
Certificate: 14A Biography | Drama | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

The life and career of wildly controversial rock 'n' roll star Jerry Lee Lewis.

Director: Jim McBride
Stars: Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, John Doe
The Crucible (1996)
Certificate: G Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A Salem resident attempts to frame her ex-lover's wife for being a witch in the middle of the 1692 witchcraft trials.

Director: Nicholas Hytner
Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder, Paul Scofield
Edit

Storyline

Finn is a young graduate student, finishing a master's thesis, and preparing for marriage to her fiance Sam. But thoughts of the end of the free life, and a potential summer fling, intrude. She goes home to her grandmother, where, over the making of her wedding gift by a group of quilting-bee friends, laughter, bickering, love, and advice lead her toward a more open-eyed examination of her course. Written by Bruce Cameron <dumarest@midcoast.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

There's beauty in the patterns of life.

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a scene of drug use, some sensuality and nudity | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Tamala Jones. See more »

Goofs

When Finn meets Leon at the pool for the first time, she sometimes is shown to be wearing a towel around her waist, and other times there's no towel...(during the same conversation) See more »

Quotes

Finn: Sometimes love simply dies.
See more »

Connections

References A Few Good Men (1992) See more »

Soundtracks

Anybody Can Be Somebody's Fool
Written and Performed by Nanci Griffith
Courtesy of MCA Records
See more »

User Reviews

 
Find the thread that hold's it together
7 September 2010 | by Faizel-RSee all my reviews

I have watched parts of this movie more than once. The movie from start to finish only once. Each story unfolds like a facet on the quilt. Then as the main plot line draws to a conclusion, the thread that binds these stories together resolves each individual facet, to complete the whole.

Quilting as I understand it, is bringing many contributions together to create a final product. Each little design tells a story and the master quilter put's these stories together , to convey a theme or message.

I have not read the novel, but the movie conveys the message in it's title.

The soundtrack is tranquil and adds to the mood.

The interplay between Burstyn and Bancroft is a pleasure to watch. Winona is excellent.


2 of 2 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
Review this title | See all 52 user reviews »

Frequently Asked Questions

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
Edit

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1995 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Courte-Pointe à l'Américaine See more »

Filming Locations:

Universal City, California, USA See more »

Edit

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,790,445, 8 October 1995

Gross USA:

$23,600,020

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$41,200,020
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

DTS-Stereo | DTS | Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »

Contribute to This Page



Recently Viewed