About
The Fourteenth Quilt:
Annie, Celia and Lynn are all that are
left of the Relief Society quilting class, but they are still determined to
make baby quilts for the new mothers at church. Annie, who is just south of
eighty years old, calls the quiltsters (short for quilting sisters) together to
ask for more. She wants to make lap quilts to give to some of the “forgotten”
oldsters she sings to each week at the nursing home—something to wrap them in
love at Christmastime. It’s a good idea, but the trio discovers that life and
making quilts don’t always go as planned.
The quilters discuss recipes and quilting ideas including a crocheted cat mat to
use up their fabric selvage and trim scraps, all of which they share in the
book.
Sarah
and Brian meet at the university. Their first date is after Sarah’s First
Saturday Block of the Month class she attends with her mom at the local quilt
shop. Their romance grows, and they plan their future together—a plan that will
require them to be separated for six months before their wedding. But, can they
bear to be apart that long?
What
wraps together this Christmas tale? The Fourteenth Quilt.
Excerpt
#1:
(Getting to Know You)
“Would
you like to go on a date?”
“No. Oh, no,” Sarah shook her head even more vigorously. “Right now the only
thing I’m interested in is getting through finals. I’m not really interested in
meeting a bunch of guys and doing the dating scene.”
“I wasn’t thinking of a bunch of guys. I was wondering if you would like to go
on a date with me sometime.”
Sarah had not expected this. She forced herself to not let her mouth drop open.
She looked up again and stared at Brian as if seeing him for the first time. He
didn’t have the most rock star handsome face she had ever seen, but he was
good-looking. Unlike most of her family who were tall and heftily-built people,
he was thin and wiry. She wondered, when they both stood up, would he even be
taller than she was?
With her eyes locked on his, she witnessed kindness as he patiently waited for
her answer. Then again, for a second she worried the hint of laughter in his
eyes indicated he enjoyed witnessing her discomfort.
Sarah didn’t know what to say. He looked like a nice guy, but she didn’t really
know anything about him.
“I…I don’t know,” Sarah stammered. “We really don’t know each other. It’s not
like Jenna actually introduced us or ever told me anything about you.”
Brian chuckled.
“You need to understand, Sarah, I didn’t know anyone on your bench. I was
sitting here because I’m Len’s friend, and I’ve met his girlfriend, Terry.
Terry is friends with that dark-haired girl. I think her name was
Angie. Evidently, Angie knew your friend. What was her name?”
“Jenna,” supplied Sarah. “I don’t know her all that well, although she seems to
be really nice. We share a class together.”
“But, you know her name,” Brian pointed out. “I suspect that Jenna didn’t make
intros because, other than Angie, who was sitting next to her, she didn’t know
anyone on my bench.
Brian
Sarah shrugged. She could see how that could have happened.
“I don’t want to pressure you if you don’t feel comfortable going out with me,”
said Brian. “But, I like you and would like to get to know you better.”
He doesn’t want to pressure me if I don’t feel comfortable?
Sarah
blinked as she thought about his words. It seemed like everyone she knew was
always trying to push her out of her comfort zone.
About
Robyn Echols:
Robyn Echols has been writing since she
was in junior high school. By choice, she spent most of her evening hours in
her "dungeon", as her mother called her downstairs bedroom, writing
stories, only joining her family in front of the television upstairs when her
favorite programs were playing. She has spent hours learning and teaching
family history topics, and focuses on history from a genealogist's perspective
of seeking out the details of everyday life in the past.
Now
Robyn resides with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite” and
has fun researching and writing the books that she hopes will interest and
entertain her readers. She writes Young Adult/New Adult and contemporary
fiction under Robyn Echols and adult historical romance under her pen name,
Zina Abbott.
The
author is a member of Women Writing the West, American Night Writers
Association, and Modesto Writers Meet Up. She currently lives with her husband
in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She enjoys any kind of history
including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she
pieces together quilt blocks.
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