UW Press: Striding Lines

Striding Lines
The Unique Story Quilts of Rumi O'Brien
Bobbie Malone
With contributions by Melanie Herzog and Marin Hanson
Photographs by Mark Golbach

“Rumi O’Brien’s quilts are a creative infusion of narrative, place, and heritage. Artists and scholars will be fascinated by her work.”
—Anne Pryor, Wisconsin Arts Board folklorist emerita

The gnarled branches of a beautiful old plum tree reach toward the sky. A mushroom hunter searches for morels among rolling hills. A small boat is tossed among the tumultuous waves of an angry sea. Striding Lines, an homage to Wisconsin artist and quilter Rumi O’Brien, presents these striking images of her work and many more, accompanied by descriptions that share the stories of each piece in the artist’s own words. Each quilt represents a moment, often autobiographical, crafted with whimsy, revealing an inspired talent.

Bobbie Malone reaches beyond the quilts to tell O’Brien’s own story, from her initial foray into the quilting world to her developed dedication to the craft. Contributions from leaders in the art, textile and quilting community, including Melanie Herzog and Marin Hanson, contextualize O’Brien’s work in the greater community of quiltmakers and artists. This book celebrates the life and ingenuity of a Japanese-born American immigrant whose oeuvre is equally Japanese and Wisconsinite—and entirely distinctive.

Bobbie Malone is a historian, author, and editor, and former director of the Office of School Services at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Her most recent biography is Lois Lenski: Storycatcher.

“A very well-informed portrait of this singular artist’s work and how her work fits into larger cultural and historical textile production. This is a story with which many will be able to resonate.”
—Marsha MacDowell, author of Quilts and Human Rights

“A beautiful compilation of essays and quilt images that reveal the remarkable work of Rumi O’Brien. . . . It invites contemplation of a Midwest infused with East Asian cultural elements and inspired by women’s everyday lives and struggles.”
—Middle West Review

Of Related Interest
Folksongs of Another America Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937–1946 James P. Leary	Pinery Boys Songs and Songcatching in the Lumberjack Era Edited by Franz Rickaby with Gretchen Dykstra and James P. Leary