Insightful, deeply moving and touchingly funny, How To Make An American Quilt explores the rich subject of how women love men. The challenges involved in making a quilt are not so different from those faced by lovers—with each love we hope to find the perfect union. Though some fabrics become dazzling when placed beside a contrasting pattern, others fight each other for harmony. When the ideal pieces are stitched together, they may fade and fray with time, but still keep their innate beauty.

Berkeley graduate student Finn (Winona Ryder) is spending the summer at the home of her grandmother, Hy (Ellen Burstyn), and great aunt, Glady Joe (Anne Bancroft). Surrounded by orange groves in Grasse, California, her grandmother's house is a quiet haven where Finn intends to actually finish her latest thesis, this one on the rituals of women's handiwork in tribal cultures. More important, Finn needs the summer to think over a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, Sam (Dermot Mulroney). Her eyes are about to be opened by the women who've seen it all.

Hy and Glady Joe's house is also the longtime home of the Grasse Quilting Bee, made up of a group of remarkable women—Maya Angelou, Kate Nelligan, Jean Simmons, Lois Smith and Alfre Woodard—who are Finn's extended family. As they gather to make her wedding quilt, the women tell Finn the stories of the loves that shaped their lives. Tales of true love, betrayal, joy and heartbreak come to life in scenes which span from 1860 to the present, each story as individual as the women themselves.

How To Make An American Quilt is directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse. The producers are Midge Sanford and Sarah Pillsbury. The executive producers are Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald and Deborah Jelin Newmyer. The screenplay is by Jane Anderson, adapted from the novel by Whitney Otto.