{"id":105949,"date":"2026-09-20T08:16:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T15:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=105949"},"modified":"2026-09-20T08:23:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T15:23:49","slug":"wrapped-up-and-cozy-and-why-not-eli-mccanns-stitched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wrapped-up-and-cozy-and-why-not-eli-mccanns-stitched\/","title":{"rendered":"Wrapped Up and Cozy, and Why Not? Eli McCann\u2019s Stitched"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I was just a few chapters into my reading of Eli McCann\u2019s debut novel, Stitched<\/i>, when I paused and asked myself, \u201cI wonder if my mother would like this book?\u201d<\/p>\n

I often pass on what I\u2019ve read to my mother. Though only about one in seven pass the \u201cPass it on to My Mom\u201d test. She\u2019s well read, but I\u2019ve learned to temper my pass-ons. One-in-seven odds probably say more about just how deviant my reading habits are compared to my mother\u2019s … but here I am running off the rails already with my review of McCann\u2019s charming and delightful book.<\/p>\n

Stitched<\/i> follows the exploits of a group of quilters, the Ogden Quilter\u2019s Association (OQA), bent on winning the Simpton Family Quilting Extravaganza, with this year\u2019s theme being, \u201cI Wish I Knew How To Quilt You: Famous Forbidden Relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their last several showings at the Simpton Family Quilting Extravaganza, better known as SFQE, had been a major disappointment, and the aging group\u2019s confidence and general mood were reaching an all-time low.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s SFQE is being held in nearby Smithfield, Utah, a possibly tactical, if not geographical, advantage for the OQA. The OQA is made up of a small but mighty group of older ladies who have been meeting religiously every Wednesday night to quilt, sew, gossip, eat, and bask in each other\u2019s comfortable presence. Mostly comfortable. And they mostly try to live by the OQA oath that they quote out loud at the beginning of each of the Wednesday meetings:<\/p>\n

We are the sisters of the Ogden Quilters Association. We vow each day to create beautifully, quilt mindfully, and warm the arms, legs, and hearts of all we meet.<\/p>\n

The oath goes on declaring heartfelt values, promises, and to never lose courage. For a moment on a particular Wednesday at the beginning of the book the OQA\u2019s oath is challenged. One of the members, Candace, concerned about the\u2014let\u2019s say\u2014natural attrition of the elderly group, brings along two new members who are quickly sent into the back room so the existing ladies can discuss the propriety of adding new members who aren\u2019t very old and not very old ladies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a rule around this,\u201d Diane said. \u201cIt\u2019s just something we\u2019ve never thought to do before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are we whispering?!\u201d Alice yelled. \u201cI can\u2019t hear a damn thing!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is silly,\u201d Diane said, also no longer whispering. \u201cThis group could use a couple of flamboyant gay men. It might bring us a little fresh color we really need.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we supposed to pretend we can\u2019t hear you,\u201d Byron shouted from the other room to the women who ignored him.<\/p>\n

Byron and Rob don\u2019t even know how to quilt. But with reluctant determination and a particular skill on Byron\u2019s part to \u201cout-scandal any conversation,\u201d the pair are quickly assimilated into the\u2014sorry\u2014tightknit group. The OQA oath is revised without dissent to reflect gender neutrality.<\/p>\n

But oh, hell\/<\/span>heck, the stakes are escalating for the content OQA, because the SFQE competition is next spring, and they have to MAKE A QUILT. The steps are numerous and overwhelming: envision, design, choose fabric, arrange blocks, sew seams, and so on and so on, until the finished product can be entered, hung, and the hand-wringing can begin.<\/p>\n

Our intrepid crew of quilters naturally stumbles into many tedious and debilitating roadblocks between quilt envision and quilt hanging. The least of which, outside of one member feeding a raccoon that\u2019s terrorizing the neighborhood, is the meddling of the rival quilting gang in nearby Logan: The Logan Quilters Society (LQS). Headed by President Patricia Davies, the LQS has been a thorn in the OQA\u2019s behind for years, and this year is no different. Byron, for one, cannot wait to meet Patricia Davies, \u201ca woman who had been painted as a grade-A villain by the women of the OQA.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did the needle incident have to happen to someone as kind as Terry,\u201d Lucy had said just the prior Wednesday, before muttering under her breath, \u201cinstead of Patricia Davies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see ol\u2019 Patty\u2019s face have a needle incident,\u201d Leera mumbled without even looking up from her sewing machine.<\/p>\n

Ah yes, the infamous needle incident. Less said about this the better. Let\u2019s move on.<\/p>\n

Like in all long-term relationships the OQA members harbor a few minor and not-so-minor grievances between themselves, and these are some of the impediments they face on their quest for SFQE glory and their shaky interpretation of the \u201cI Wish I Knew How To Quilt You\u201d them.<\/p>\n

Through it all, it may not be the quilting or the competition that draws them together. It could be something a little deeper that the group reluctantly cares to admit. The hard-earned friendship.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I\u2019m just not really as cut out for this as some others,\u201d Lucy said, shrugging her shoulders a bit. \u201cAnd don\u2019t get me wrong, I love the competition and I will definitely cry on the drive home. But quilting has never been the reason I show up on Wednesday nights\u2014just the excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

There it is. And that\u2019s enough.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if I have ever intentionally read, what in the publishing world is called, a \u201ccozy\u201d book, but that is precisely what Stitched<\/i> is. Slippers. Hot cocoa. Fire crackling. Jammed up in your favorite flannel jam-jams. Oh, and of course, wrapped in a soft stitched blanket. Preferably one that your mom and hopefully some of her friends made. Which I have. Y\u2019all don\u2019t even know all the cozy feels this book so happily gave me. It is a once-in-a-blue-moon feel-good experience not to be missed in our harried-world today. Get some cocoa. And yes, absolutely pass this one on to your mother.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Eli Mccann
\nStitched<\/em>
\nTorrey House Press<\/a>
\n2026
\n280 pp.
\n$18.95<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was just a few chapters into my reading of Eli McCann\u2019s debut novel, Stitched, when I paused and asked myself, \u201cI wonder if my mother would like this book?\u201d I often pass on what I\u2019ve read to my mother. Though only about one in seven pass the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1516,"featured_media":105950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2589,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-reviews-literary-arts","category-literary-arts"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-11-11 15:47:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/stitched.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1516"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105949"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105955,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105949\/revisions\/105955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}