Directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, the film features Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan and Alfre Woodard.
As Finn is unsure whether she's ready for marriage or if he's "the one", the women's stories in the quilting group open her eyes to the different kinds of love that exist.
With three children and little help from Preston who is frequently away because of his job, she no longer has time to dive and eventually forgets the feeling of freedom and escape it gives her.
Later, she realizes that, in his own way, Dean does truly love her when she takes shelter in his studio during a sudden wind storm and discovers numerous paintings of her telling the story of their life together over the years.
Their reconciliation is symbolized by the demolition of the plastered walls in the laundry room when Glady realizes that her love for her sister surpasses her feelings of betrayal.
Her panel for Finn's wedding quilt depicts a yellow rose bush under which she and Howell buried the dog after it died.
She becomes pregnant by him, and when her great aunt Pauline finds out about it she sends Anna away with their family story quilt (which she had sold to the boss's wife).
Amblin co-founder Kathleen Kennedy brought on producers Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford, who had read and loved the book before its publication.
"[3] Sanford and Pillsbury reached out to screenwriter Jane Anderson to pen the script and chose Australian filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse as the director.
[3][4] To avoid the possibility of audience confusion at the various storylines that jump back and forth in time, the filmmakers intended for "the [characters'] flashbacks [to] be very distinct little movies.
The site's consensus states: "How to Make an American Quilt is a bit of a patchwork from a storytelling standpoint, but a strong ensemble cast led by Winona Ryder helps hold it all together.
"[6] In a review for The New York Times, Caryn James gave praise to both Moorhouse's "cut-to-the-quick" direction and Anderson's script for crafting an adaptation of a "decidedly uncinematic novel."
"[7] Roger Ebert commended the stories involving Woodard and Capshaw's characters for being the most heartfelt but found the rest of them devoid of any emotional resonance compared to the tales told in the film adaptation of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, stating that they have lives "largely recycled from sweet movies and tasteful romantic novels.
"[8] Eve Zibart of The Washington Post stated that despite Bancroft's performance being "right on the ceiling" in terms of over the top and saying that Ryder "seems for once to be acting, and not entirely comfortably", she praised the rest of the actresses for being "theatrical indulgence by a cast of stahs.
"[9] The film was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 2nd Screen Actors Guild Awards, but lost to Apollo 13.
[10][11] Ryder and Mulroney were nominated for Best Kiss at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards, but lost to Natasha Henstridge and Anthony Guidera for Species.