It's a play that does not follow the linear structure of a typical musical. It's performed in many segments, much like the patchwork composition of a quilt, and every square tells a different story that ties in with the next.

It's Quilters, and an entirely female cast will come together this week in the School of Theatre to illustrate true stories of American pioneer women who left their homes to venture west and start anew.

A preview performance will take place at 8 p.m. Thursday in the Pavilion Theatre.

The show will run Friday through Saturday, Oct. 5, with all performances beginning at 8 p.m. and an additional matinee starting at 2 p.m. on Oct. 5. There is no show on Sunday.

Quilters takes place in the late 1800s, when hundreds of settlers made the decision to head west where fertile, farmable land was plentiful and for the taking.

Pioneer women often had no choice but to say farewell to family and friends and prepare for the long journey.

"These women had no idea what they would see," said director and choreographer Kate Arecchi, a third-year master's of fine arts student. "They encountered huge mountain ranges, colors they didn't know existed. I keep thinking how small they must have felt, the courage it would take to move through the big world."

Pioneers were forced to leave many possessions behind, but quilts proved to be a necessity. Just as a quilt is started from scraps, these women started their lives all over from what little or nothing they had.

Chemistry existed among the Quilters cast members before rehearsals started. All eight student performers are undergraduate musical theatre majors who formed friendships in classes.

"We were very close beforehand, but the show brought us even more together," Lisa Schale (senior-musical theatre) said.

Schale lives with three of the other cast members in the show, including Lindsay McDonald (junior-musical theatre).

McDonald said it isn't uncommon for the girls to walk around the house and sing songs from the show.

"We rehearse together and help each other out," McDonald said. "It's nice."

The ninth cast member is Spence Ford, a dance instructor in the School of Theatre.

Ford, who has long instructed the girls, was ideal to play the role of the mother Sarah, who is making her legacy quilt. The girls play her daughters, as well as other various characters.

Arrechi said that the all-female rehearsals created a really safe environment in which the girls could experiment more with their roles.

Quilters, with words and lyrics by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, is originally based on the book The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art.

Newman was inspired by the book to go out and interview women in the country, particularly in the West, who have considered quilting an artistic outlet throughout American history. The musical received six Tony Award nominations in 1984.

Beverly Patton, musical director for the show and associate professor of theatre arts, said the music of Quilters is designed to complement the story and the metaphor of the quilt.

A four-piece ensemble made up of a fiddle, bass, guitar and piano will perform Celtic and hymnal tunes.

"The music is part of the colors and the fabric of the quilt," Patton said.

She also said there aren't many solos because the whole idea is that no one stands alone.

In one scene, the girls were faced with the challenge of sewing their own quilt blocks with the design of a schoolhouse. Centre Pieces Quilt Guild was there to instruct the cast each step of the way. The assignment was intended to give the girls insight into the characters that they are portraying.

Schale said she always admired the beautiful patterns of quilts but never realized how hard the product was to create.

"It was a wonderful part of the process," she said.

McDonald said they used various resources to gain perspective on what life must have been like during this particular period in America.

"We turned to history books, articles," she said. "Anything to give us a better grasp."

Quilts had countless uses as settlers made the journey west. They were functional in many ways, from makeshift doorways to protective cushioning for delicate china.

They also often possessed great sentimental value as family heirlooms passed down among generations or farewell gifts from dear friends left behind.

It isn't until the very end of Quilters that the complete and finished legacy quilt is revealed. The quilt represents the many trials that women on the frontier overcame as well as the personal trials of the mother.

Arrechi said she considers Quilters a patriotic play that she thinks will resonate strongly with the emotions of the audience, particularly in light of the events of Sept 11.

"The major issue is tenacity of the spirit of not just women, but of the American people -- our stories and our history," she said. "It's so different from other countries."