In what sense is the process of making a quilt an appropriate metaphor for the plot of Trifles by Susan Glaspell?

Quilting involves piecing sections of cloth or fabric together and connecting them. In Trifles, Susan Glaspell's characters Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters piece together the evidence in the Wrights' home to solve the murder of Mr. Wright. The quilt serves as a crucial piece in the mystery and also as an appropriate metaphor for the women's discovery of the motive and guilty party.

Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters go along with their husbands, police and city officials, to the Wrights' home, the crime scene. Mr. Wright has been murdered and the men are there to investigate the scene, hoping to find signs of motive and evidence of guilt. The women accompany their husbands to collect some requested items for Mrs. Wright, who is being held in the local jail.

As the women look around the house, they start to notice things that lead them to make inferences about Mrs. Wright's activities and state of mind before the murder. There is unfinished work in the kitchen—bread and fruit that needs to be put into jars—so the women notice that Mrs. Wright was interrupted in her work. Next, they observe the quilt, which has some poor stitches. This indicates Mrs. Wright was upset or disturbed in her work. Mrs. Hale even undoes the stitches and corrects them, effectively covering up evidence.

The women decide to bring Mrs. Wright her sewing and go on to look for scissors, which they find in a "pretty box." Also in the box, though, is a dead bird with a broken neck. In a related piece of evidence, the bird's cage has been damaged. By looking at this evidence and recalling details about Mrs. Wright, formerly Minnie Foster, who was a friend of the other ladies, the two women infer that Mrs. Wright's husband killed her bird and so Mrs. Wright reciprocated by killing him. They have solved the case, but they do not tell their husbands and even help to cover up the crime to protect Mrs. Wright. The men do not pay much attention to their wives anyway and think their areas of interest are mere "trifles."

The way the women connect the dots to discover the killer's identity and motive is an apt comparison to the act of quilting. The metaphor is even more effective because an actual quilt serves as a key prop in Glaspell's play.