Monday, October 19, 2015

THE 14th QUILT by Robyn Echols







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.

Author Links:

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Quilt Gateway blog (See posts for September 2015)



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