Frayed Edges

by Carol Dean Jones

  “I woke up to this little guy licking my face,” she said tenderly. Looking into her husband’s eyes, she added, “Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

  “Come sit with me in the kitchen,” he said after kissing her cheek and patting little Tucker’s tummy. “I need your help. I wanted to make frozen waffles, but I can’t find your recipe.”

  Her laughter was music to his ears.

  Chapter 36

  Charles called Ruth and confirmed that he would be bringing the quilts to the club meeting that night. She then called everyone to encourage them to come to a party. “I told them we’re celebrating the fact that the quilts have been recovered, but I didn’t tell them I would actually have them here. Some of the quilters probably figured it out,” she said with a laugh. “I just hope everyone comes, so we don’t end up with any unclaimed quilts.”

  “I’ll deliver them within the next few days if there’s anyone who can’t make it,” Charles offered.

  That evening, he loaded the quilts into his van and, according to Sarah’s instructions, placed Andy’s quilt on the front seat. He locked the van and then locked the garage door just to be safe before returning to the house.

  “Are you about ready?” he called to Sarah.

  “Yes, I just have a quick phone call to make.”

  She reached for the kitchen phone, and moments later Andy answered. He knew the quilts had been recovered but didn’t know that they had finally been released by the police. Sarah had gone to great lengths to keep him from knowing. She wanted to surprise him herself.

  “I’d like to stop by for a minute before I leave for the quilt club if that’s okay with you,” she said.

  “Sure! Come on by,” Andy responded. “Bring the old man if you want.”

  “I’ll do that, but now he’s frowning. I have you on speaker, and he heard that disparaging remark.”

  “I’m not an old man,” Charles grumbled. “You’ll know when I’m old.”

  Andy laughed, “Only kidding. So, Sarah, when are you coming by?”

  “Right now,” she responded.

  A few minutes later, Andy opened the door and saw Sarah standing there with his aunt’s quilt neatly folded and lying across her arms. “I told you I’d take good care of it,” she kidded, referring to the time she had lost his mother’s tie quilt, only to find it several months later under the guest bed where Barney had stashed it.

  Andy was speechless, and tears welled up in his eyes. “You have her quilt,” he muttered barely above a whisper. He gently reached for the quilt and hugged it to his heart. “You know, when Charles called and told me about how it was recovered, I told Caitlyn, but we didn’t tell Aunt Maddie that it had been found. In fact,” he said with a laugh, “we couldn’t tell her since we never told her it had been lost.”

  “That’s probably best,” Sarah responded as she followed Andy into his house. She looked around, confused at first, and then remarked, “Your house is the reverse of Sophie’s, isn’t it? It seems strange to see the hall on that side and the kitchen over there.”

  “Yes, I always feel a little disoriented when I go into her house,” he responded distractedly, still hugging the quilt protectively. “So, were all the others as happy as I am to get their quilts back?”

  “They don’t have them yet,” Sarah replied. “They’re all in the van, and we’re on our way to the quilt club now to deliver them.”

  Andy’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Do you need any help? I’d love to see the quilters’ faces when you walk in.”

  “I’d love the help,” Charles said, placing his hands on his lower back and stretching backward as if to get the kinks out. “You don’t realize how heavy three dozen quilts can be.”

  “Come on, old man,” Andy responded in jest. “Let me give you a hand.”

  Before leaving the house, Andy took his quilt into the bedroom, carefully placed it in his footlocker, and attached the padlock. He dropped the key into his jeans pocket. He planned to buy a new bed for his guest room and display the quilt there. He was hoping that Sarah would help him decorate the room around the quilt, but he hadn’t discussed it with her yet.

  “Where are you going to keep your quilt?” Sarah asked as they were getting into the van.

  “Strange that you should ask,” Andy responded with a mischievous grin, and while Charles drove, Andy and Sarah eagerly discussed their plans for exploring yard sales and antique shops.

  * * * * *

  The quilts had been delivered to Charles in three separate packing boxes, each containing approximately a dozen quilts. Charles had brought along his hand truck so that they could carry all the boxes into the shop at once. When they arrived at Running Stitches, Charles parked away from the shop windows so the quilters wouldn’t see the boxes being unloaded.

  “Ready?” Sarah asked, and Charles indicated that they were. “Let me go in first,” she suggested, “and you men follow in a couple of minutes.”

  “Okay, but come back and hold the door open for us,” Charles said.

  As Sarah entered the shop, she was shocked to see so many people. It looked like every member of the club was there. In addition, she saw several people she didn’t recognize. One elderly woman sitting near the door had a walker next to her chair. Sarah immediately recognized the walker bag and said, “You must be Frank’s grandmother.”

  “I sure am, and you folks have taught my boy so much! I sure thank you all.”

  “Your grandson is a delight, and we love having him in the club. Where is he now?” she asked.

  “He went to get me some punch and a piece of cake. He’ll be right back.”

  Sarah suddenly remembered she was supposed to be holding the door for the men and the hand truck, but she was hoping to get everyone’s attention first. When she spotted Ruth, she hurried over and asked if she was ready.

  “Tell them to come in,” Ruth said, and she simultaneously called out to the group. “Okay, everyone, crowd around the front of the shop. I have news for you. Sophie, is anyone back in the kitchen?”

  “No, everyone is out here,” Sophie responded, taking a quick look in the makeshift kitchen.

  “Okay, Sarah,” Ruth said. “Do your thing.”

  Sarah opened the door, the little bell above the door tinkled, and the men pushed in the hand truck carrying the pile of boxes.

  “Quilt delivery,” Charles called out for everyone to hear.

  There were gasps, whoops, and tears. Suddenly, loud applause broke out as everyone crowded around the hand truck while simultaneously hugging the men who had brought it in. “How can we ever thank you?” one woman asked.

  “It wasn’t us,” Andy said. “We’re just the deliverymen. Talk to your gal Sarah over there. She’s the one that made this happen.”

  Charles saw that they were crowding around his wife, inundating her with questions, and he thought he spotted a look of panic cross her face. He hurried to her side and led her off toward the kitchen. “I need a cup of coffee. Honey? Will you show me where it is?” Turning to the group, he said, “Andy here will be unpacking your quilts one at a time. Watch for yours. They’re all there!”

  By the time Sarah and Charles rejoined the group, Andy was holding the last three quilts. “These are unclaimed,” he said to Sarah, looking worried.

  “Whose are those?” Sarah asked, turning to Ruth.

  “They must be Peggy’s,” Ruth said. “She had three quilts in the show, but she couldn’t make it tonight. They were having a special program at the nursing home, and she wanted to be there with her husband. She said she’d try to stop by later, on her way home.”

  It made Sarah smile when she noticed that most of the quilters were hugging their quilts to their hearts, just like Andy had done earlier. Frank’s grandmother now had four or five quilts on her lap, and Sarah asked if she could open one of them up and look at it. She hadn’t had a chance to see them at the show. When she and Sophie held it up, the group crowded around and oohed and aah
ed. “This was made by my grandmother,” Frank’s 95-year-old grandmother announced proudly. “Must be near 150 years old by now, don’t you suppose?”

  “That’s about right, Mrs. Franklin,” Ruth responded. “I’d say it was made in the mid-1800s.”

  “Do you quilt, Mrs. Franklin?” someone asked.

  “Oh, I did years ago, but mostly I crochet now. I know that’s out these days, but I still love doing it. I made collars and cuffs for my grandchildren like I used to wear, but I’ve never seen them wearing them. I guess that kind of thing is too old-fashioned.”

  “Let me show you something,” Lacey said. She brought her smartphone over and pulled up a site that sold crocheted collars, scarves, and baby clothes.

  Mrs. Franklin studied the website carefully. “I don’t see any cuffs like I make, but look at these big ones. It says they’re boot cuffs,” she commented, looking surprised.

  “Boot cuffs are very popular, Mrs. Franklin.”

  “Oh, golly,” Mrs. Franklin gasped. “Look at those prices. I should be selling my stuff. Frank, could you help me sell some of my crochet on my computer?”

  “You have a computer?” Charles asked.

  “Don’t act so surprised, young man,” she responded defiantly. “Of course I have a computer! I’m not about to let this world pass me by.”

  Charles looked across the room at his wife and pictured her twenty years in the future. Yeah, he thought with a chuckle, she’ll never let the world pass her by either.

  The excitement went on, as did the party. “What’s going on here?” Peggy asked as she entered the shop much later. “I was passing by and saw the lights. I thought you’d be closed by now.”

  “Come get your quilts and join the party, Peggy. We have three dozen reasons to celebrate!”

  PROJECT

  FRAYED EDGES

  Andy reconnected with family while exploring

  the history of his great-grandmother’s antique quilt. Make this 73˝ × 93˝ quilt to add to your family’s heritage.

  MATERIALS

  Light fabric: Scraps to total 1⅞ yards

  Dark fabric: Scraps to total 3⅛ yards

  Neutral fabric: 3⅛ yards

  Inner border: ⅝ yard

  Outer border: 1⅝ yards

  Backing: 3 yards

  Batting: 80˝ × 100˝

  Binding: 2¼˝ wide × ¾ yard

  Project Instructions

  Sew fabrics right sides together.  • Seam allowances are ¼˝.

  FOUR-PATCH BLOCKS

  Make 128.

  1.Cut 256 squares 3˝ × 3˝ from light fabrics and 256 squares 3˝ × 3˝ from dark fabrics.

  2.Sew together each light fabric square with a dark fabric square. Press toward the dark fabric.

  3.Sew together pairs of units, aligning lights next to darks, to complete 128 Four-Patch blocks.

  HALF-SNOWBALL BLOCKS

  Make 124.

  1.Cut 124 squares 5½˝ × 5½˝ from the neutral fabric.

  2.Cut 248 squares 2¾˝ × 2¾˝ from dark fabrics. Draw a line diagonally from one corner to another on the wrong side of each square.

  3.Align a dark square with a corner of a neutral square. Sew on the drawn line. Trim ¼˝ from the sewing line. Press toward the dark fabric. Make 124.

  4.Repeat Step 3 on the opposite corner of each neutral square to complete 124 Half-Snowball blocks.

  SECTION A

  Make 2. Press toward the Four-Patch blocks.

  1.Sew a Four-Patch block to the left side of a Half-Snowball block. Orient the Four-Patch with a light square at the top right next to a triangle of the Half-Snowball at the top left. Make 54.

  2.Sew together 3 units from Step 1, attaching Four-Patches to Half-Snowballs to make a row. Make 18.

  3.Sew a Four-Patch to the Half-Snowball at the right end of 10 rows.

  4.Sew a Half-Snowball to the Four-Patch at the left end of 8 rows.

  5.Sew together 9 rows to make Section A. Alternate the rows: The first and all other odd-numbered rows should have a Four-Patch at the left. Make 2.

  Section A—make 2.

  SECTION B

  Make 2. Press toward the Four-Patch blocks.

  1.Sew a Four-Patch block to the left side a Half-Snowball block. Orient the Four-Patch with a light square at the bottom right next to a triangle of the Half-Snowball at the bottom left. Make 54.

  2.Repeat Section A, Steps 2–5, to make 2 Sections B.

  Section B—make 2.

  ASSEMBLE AND FINISH QUILT

  1.Assemble as shown.

  2.Layer the pieced top with batting and backing. Quilt and bind as desired.

  Quilt assembly

  READER’S GUIDE:

  A QUILTING COZY SERIES

  by Carol Dean Jones

  1.Sophie became very stressed over a potential yet unconfirmed problem in her relationship with Norman. Why do you think she was reluctant to clarify the issue directly with Norman? How does Sophie feel about him? What do you think she really wants from their relationship?

  2.Do you have quilts that have been passed down through your family? Do you know the stories of these quilts? Will future recipients of your quilts know their stories? What could be done to preserve the history of the quilts you have made?

  3.Aunt Maddie let guilt and regret shape her entire life. How could her life have been different if she had dealt with those issues? How do you think Caitlyn and Andy’s presence will change Maddie’s life?

  4.Charles said that every generation talks about the “good old days” being a simpler time. Do you think it was, in fact, simpler? Will future generations look back and see our times as being simpler?

  5.Sarah and Charles went to extraordinary expense to get Barney a pacemaker. A generation ago, most animals were kept outside. What do you think accounts for this change in attitude? Are our pets filling some missing need in our lives? And if so, what?

  6.Were you aware of the stolen-quilt network that exists in the quilt community? Have you seen articles in magazines and online with pleas from people whose quilts have been stolen? Have you had a quilt stolen or known anyone who had to search for a missing quilt? What do you think motivates someone to steal a quilt?

  A Note from the Author

  Writing this series has been a joy. I’ve met many of my readers through my blog and by email, and you have consistently been loyal, supportive, and encouraging.

  What has given me the most pleasure has been hearing from readers who have said that Sarah and Sophie taught them better ways to deal with the many issues of aging. And that was exactly my intention. After thirty years as a geriatric social worker, I had seen seniors giving up and others taking steps to get the most out of their retirement years. I wanted to share what those seniors taught me, and I decided to have Sarah, Sophie, and all their cohorts act it out in this series.

  You watched them deal with the many losses of old age, with major health issues, joint replacements, abuse, and Alzheimer’s; and you saw them taking positive steps to deal with these problems. But you also saw them having fun, enjoying their many friends, learning new things, and supporting each other. We have all learned from them.

  I’ve also heard from my readers that Sarah and Sophie have become their close friends, and I must admit they have become friends of mine as well.

  Thank you for reading this series and for your frequent contacts. Please continue to stay in touch.

  Best wishes,

  Carol Dean Jones

  caroldeanjones.com

  quiltingcozy@gmail.com

  Frayed Edges Download

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