This quilt is one of a series of quilts I generated following Election Day 2024. There were so many changes to laws, funding, access – especially related to my discipline and my research – that I used my sewing machine for Processing the Policies from that time and to represent events and actions moving forward. Explore the collection.
I belong to the Undercover Quilters guild in Brookhaven, PA. This dynamic community of amazing quilters are always coming up with a fun activity where we can “challenge” ourselves to generate a quilt with a particular quilt, or along a particular theme (in 2025, I completed the panel quilt challenge with a panel I picked up in Alaska).
One of the guild challenges in 2026 (we had more than one – it was a busy year!) was to Paint the Town READ. This was a play on the word “read” as my guild was also celebrating its 40th anniversary as a guild – its ruby anniversary! So “read” made sense to tie into the challenge. And as the flyer to the left shows, each of us were to select one book and make a quilt that is not a copy of the book cover, but have a design that reflects the story or a character.
When this challenge was announced, I knew immediately which book I wanted to quilt – Fahrenheit 451, authored by Ray Bradbury and published in 1953. I never read this book when I was a student in school, but I had frequently seen this book on displays in book stores and seen it as part of banned book displays.
Growing up, I had read many mystery series – starting with Nancy Drew, then moving on to Agatha Christie. My reading is now mostly pieces of non-fiction, but my curiosity was always pulling me back to this book, for some reason. Finally, in my adult life, I was curious enough to purchase the book and read it. And wow! I won’t go into the text of the book, but it was so different than anything I had read, and the story made such an impact that I couldn’t stop thinking about and reflecting upon (great books do that!). So I decided to reread the book again before making my quilt.
I named the quilt Try Reading Books Instead of Banning Them, as this novel highlights a time/place when “books were for burning, along with the houses in which they were hidden” (quote from back cover of book). The Wikipedia page for Fahrenheit 451 gives several reasons why individuals and groups place this book on the list of banned book titles. Currently, this theme could not be more relevant, as the American Library Association (ALA) reports that in 2025, 4,235 unique titles were targeted for censorship, and 92% of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups and government officials (see their page on banned book data).
The title of the book comes from “the temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns” (title page in the book). The thermometer goes up to a temperature of 451, and the other two fabrics are books and flames on the front and back.
This quilt is going to be part of a display in the Penn State Brandywine Library for Banned Books Week in October 2026, alongside the Challenged Stitches: a quilt with banned book data I co-created with the amazing interim head librarian at my campus. I hope my quilt, as well as the book, generates the same thoughts and reflection as it has for me.
This quilt was completed September 20, 2026, and measures 32 inches tall by 25 inches wide. The fabrics used for the quilt are the following:
- Backing – Free Spirit Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements Palette #PWTH326 Multi Bookshop
- Front flames – Timeless Treasures Fabrics of SoHo Gail-C 7950
- Books on front – QT Fabrics Book Club, Stacked Books, Style #: 32255-X
- Thermometer background – Patrick Lose Glisten
- Thermometer bulb – Studio e Fabrics Tempest 7590-88 Ruby
- Binding from Dove Original Trims
