Ida Lou's Story

A traveling circus comes to Bloomington, Illinois, in 1918, and Ida Lou sees an opportunity to realize her dream of becoming an aerialist -- and perhaps find her absent father.

A family, like a quilt, can be pieced together in many ways. And a quilt, like a family, is rich with stories. Lacey's great-grandmother has a trunkful of family quilts, and stories, she loves to share with Lacey. And the stories the old quilts tell help Lacey understand not only the generations that have come before her, but her own family as well.

Take Lacey's great-great-aunt Ida Lou, living with her brother, Vic, and their struggling single mother in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1918. Vic wants to join the fighting overseas, while Ida Lou dreams of becoming an aerialist like her heroes, The Flying Wards. She's sure that traveling with the circus will enable her to find her long-absent father. But even as a rich suitor for Ida Lou's mother promises a bright future for the family, a near-tragic accident threatens to put an end to Ida Lou's dreams.