Book Club Resources
Below are some questions to aid groups in their discussion of Margaret’s book Common Threads:
- Margaret writes that “the idea landed like a whisper” after she read a BBC news report about a Sri Lankan woman named Vahashani, who hoped that her sewing machine had survived the horrific 2004 tsunami. “With my ‘yes,’ a door swung open.” Have you ever said “yes” to something that changed your life’s course?
- A sewing machine seems a humble object, but it symbolized women’s empowerment in cultures ranging from Kosovo to Sri Lanka to right here in Madison, where women who had been trafficked for sex learned to sew as part of their healing. What is it about sewing that is so powerful?
- Many of the donated sewing machines came with hand-written notes about their owners and histories. If your sewing machine could talk, what story would it tell?
- Margaret describes being guided, reassured by dreams. Have you ever had a dream that helped you solve a problem? Guided you? Describe it.
- Just as a talented seamstress can turn an old garment into something new, the Sewing Machine Project pushed Margaret from her introvert self into someone who appears on television, gives speeches to thousands and travels the world with near strangers. Can you recall a time in your life when something pushed you out of your comfort zone?
- The Sewing Machine Project brought all kinds of people into Margaret’s life: Mardi Gras Indians Big Chief Howard Miller and Queen Rukiya Brown, the regulars at the Mother-in-Law Lounge, the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Nancy Zieman of Sewing with Nancy, Cherice Harrison Nelson, the ladies of Kosovo, and the homeless people here in Madison who wait patiently while their belongings are tended to by the menders at the library. Does a particular character stand out to you?
- The people in New Orleans pledged to “pay it forward” by doing mending for neighbors, making baby blankets for the hospital and teaching others to sew. What are other ways sewers can pay it forward?
- Not everything worked the way Margaret envisioned it. The SeaHope bags, sewn of old sails to benefit the Houma community in Louisiana, had problems from the start. What lessons were learned from that project?
- The mending project also seems to create community and a chance to help people who sometimes have very few possessions. Can you think of other services needed in your community?
- Margaret writes, “The imagination of the universe is far greater than my own.” Describe a time when you experienced a challenge and the answer was a complete surprise.