Sewing histories: life histories and its contribuitions

This article was written after the analys of some aspects of the film "Colcha de Retalhos"(How to make an AmericanPatchwork Quilt) (1995) which was proposed to be watched and discussed at a working session of the Linha 11Seminar : Memory, Development and Life Stories"subject offered by the graduate program (Master level) in Education of the Federal University of Santa Maria. The film focuses the life stories of a group of women having the pachwork quilt as the mediator of their social relationships as well as a communication basis for their feelings and emotions from the many stories, symbols, images and drawings shown on the embroidered "quilt of memories". Have also tried to link the film with the life story methodology once it is on the educational research, providing self eduction to those involved as the personal effort of explanation of a given life course imposes a great deal of involment and contributes to an individual and a collective consciousness.