How to Make an American Quilt

How to Make an American Quilt is a 1995 movie which was directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and stars Winona Ryder, Maya Angelou, Ellen Burstyn and Anne Bancroft. It is based on a novel of the same name by Whitney Otto. In 1996, the film received a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

When she was young, Sophia Samantha MathisLois Smith was a talented diver with dreams of escaping her small town and overbearing mother. One day she meets Preston Richards Loren Dean while diving at the local pool and romance ensues. Hes attracted by her fearlessness and she believes he can take her away from her current, oppressive way of life. However, motherhood turns out to be just as, if not more, oppressive, and married life soon grinds her down. With three children and little help from her husband who is frequently away because of his job, she no longer has time to dive and eventually forgets the feeling of freedom and escape it gives her. One day she snaps at her husband for digging a pond in the back garden. In an attempt to remind her of the girl he fell in love with, he tells her the pond is for her to wade in. After she rejects his efforts, he realizes that her free spirit is gone. One morning he leaves for work, never to return. Abandoned, bitter, and trapped in a life she didnt want, Sophia ironically ends up like her overbearing mother, particularly in her relationship with Finn.Years later, when the wind blows part of Finns thesis into the pond, she wades in to get it. With her feet in the pool, she remembers what her husband tried to remind her of all those years ago, and one of the last scenes shows her diving off the high dive. ........

Source: Wikipedia