Read The Friendship Star Quilt Online
Authors: Patricia Kiyono,Stephanie Michels
“You seem about a million miles away,” Tee commented as she laid a bolt of muslin on the cutting counter in front of Anne on Monday afternoon. The busy realtor had stopped into the shop on her way home from work.
Anne apologized. “I'm sorry. I guess I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment. No.” She grimaced. “Make that a
lot
overwhelmed.”
“You?” her friend asked in an amazed tone of voice. “In all the time I've known you, Anne, I can't recall ever seeing you frazzled.”
“Well, now you have.” The young clerk puffed out a breath. “I made a commitment, but I think I've bit off more than I can chew, as my grandma used to say.”
“Commitment? What's up? Do you wanna talk about it?”
Anne nodded and told the woman about the uniforms for the high school color guard. “The girls were so enthusiastic. We sketched out a navy blue wrap skirt, lined in the same light blue as their flags. They're all buying their own white leotards to wear under them.”
“Skirts sound like a good idea. Maybe they can wear navy and light blue ribbons in their hair, too.”
“Good idea. I'll mention it to them when they come by the shop tonight.” Seeing the unspoken question on Tee's face, Anne explained. “They are all different heights, so I need to make sure each one's skirt is the right length. The girls are coming to the shop after band rehearsal this evening, so I can take their exact measurements. I already bought the pattern and fabric on Saturday evening at JoAnne's.”
“Sounds like you have it all planned out. So what's the problem?”
“The parade is this weekend. I don't know how I'll finish sewing a dozen skirts by then.”
“Piece of cake,” Tee said. She pulled her iPhone from her purse and quickly keyed in a number. “Ellen, this is Tee. I'm at The Stitching Post with Anne, and we need some help.”
As Anne listened in amazement, the busy realtor explained the situation. “Can you phone Sue and Sylviaâand maybe Betty and Debbie? Tell them what's going on. We need them to bring their machines to The Post tomorrow night for a sewing bee. No quilting. I'll call Lila, Doris and the others and fill them in, too. Great. See you then.”
Disconnecting from the call, the take-charge business woman grinned. “Voila! Problem solved.”
Tee,” Anne protested. “I can't ask our customers to sew these uniforms.”
“You didn't, I did. And we aren't
customers
, we're your friends, remember? Besides, these are Rivertown kids. We're proud of them and want them to be at their best when they represent us.”
“I don't know what to say.”
“Then don't say anything, goose. Just cut four-and-a-half yards of this muslin for me while I call home. Mom will feed the kids for me, and I'll stay and help you get the color guard measured. It will go quicker with two of us to do it. If we have time, we might be able to even cut out a couple of skirts tonight.”
****
The following afternoon, the quilters started to straggle in more than an hour before The Stitching Post closed for the day. In addition to their usual potluck offerings, each woman also arrived with her personal sewing machine.
“Tell me what you have planned for the uniforms,” Lila said, removing her hooded jacket, “and where you have the material and pattern stored. I can get things organized while you take care of the shop. Tee said you cut out some of the skirts last night.”
We did,” Anne replied. “Between us, we got six of them ready to sew. I worked on a sample when I went home and finished it between customers today.” She pointed to a garment folded neatly over a chair back. “I think it turned out pretty nice.”
Lila picked up the skirt and shook it out to examine it. “Goodness, Anne, this is much better than nice. It's beautiful. You even have a miniature version of the flag's design on the front. Your handsome young band director is really going to like this idea.”
Anne was so shocked at the woman's reference to Brad she hardly knew what to say. “Mr. Carmichael isn't myâ”
But Lila held up the high-topped pastry carrier she'd brought with her. “If he likes apple pie you can share whatever's left of this with him and Jennie. Speaking of her, where is our little helper today?”
“Jennie stayed at the high school with her dad tonight. BradâMr. Carmichaelâknew all of you were coming in to help me sew the color guard uniforms tonight, and he didn't want her to be underfoot.”
“The dear child is so well-behaved, she'd never be underfoot,” Lila remarked fondly.
“I told him the same thing, but he insisted.”
“Told who and what?” Ellen asked, wheeling in her sewing machine on a small dolly. A pan of brownies perched precariously on top of the case.
“Anne's honey was worried his daughter would be in our way tonight.”
Heat flooded Anne's cheeks as she protested. “He's not myâ”
“Quick, grab those brownies before they fall!” Ellen exclaimed as the wheel of her cart bumped against one of the chair legs.
Lila rescued the pan, handed it back to its owner then turned to Anne. “You were going to show me where the pattern and remaining fabric is.”
Anne nodded and pulled a box from under the work table. “The five skirts ready to be sewn are in here,” she said. She ducked under the table again and pulled out a plastic tub, containing several bolts of fabric. “Here's the material for the rest of the uniforms.”
“Is the pattern for the appliqué in there, too?”
“Yes. I used the photo copier to reduce the flag design until I had a pattern small enough to use on the skirts.”
The front bell jingled, announcing an arrival. Anne waved a greeting to the windblown customer, who'd come rushing in from the cold.
“Go and take care of business,” Lila said. “If you'll trust me with it, I can get everything organized. I'll start a couple of us on the skirts you have ready to be sewn. The rest of us can pin and cut the others.”
“Of course, I trust you. All of you. And I appreciate allâ”
“We know, we know. Now, shoo! Go wait on your customer.”
By the time Anne closed the shop an hour later, everyone from the quilt group had arrived and had helped themselves to the pot luck. As each woman finished eating, Lila assigned them their tasks for the evening.
“Did you leave anything for me to do?” Anne asked. She popped a bacon-wrapped water chestnut into her mouth and surveyed the busy work area.
“I left the appliqués for you,” Lila said, pointing to a pile of folded white taffeta and fusible web adhesive. I knew you'd want those to be just so.”
“You know me too well.” She dipped a pita chip into a bowl of homemade hummus, popped it in her mouth then brushed off her hands. “I'll get right to it.”
“After you wash,” the older woman instructed, pointing to the sink.
“Yes, ma'am,” Anne said, snapping off a mock salute. “You sound just like Grams. You're just as short and feisty as she was, too.”
The thought of her grandmother brought a sudden lump to Anne's throat. She swallowed against it then hurried to the sink. No time to mope. She had work to do.
Sylvia had set up the ironing board along the far wall so the sewers could trim and press seams as they worked. Now, Anne carried the white taffeta and webbing over to it. After checking the temperature on the ironâtoo much heat could scorch or even melt the delicate materialâshe carefully fused the two layers together. When she finished, she let the reinforced fabric cool.
Since the work tables were already crowded with machines and sewers, Anne took her fabric to the shop's cutting counter. She smoothed the fabric on the work surface then retrieved a roll of narrow masking tape from a drawer. She ripped off a half dozen pieces and used them to fasten the taffeta to the countertop. The paper tape would hold the slippery fabric in place while she worked but could be removed afterwards without leaving any residue. She tossed the roll back into the drawer then, using a marking pencil, she carefully traced eleven small sea hawks on the surface of the taffeta.
“Need help with those?” Sylvia asked. She handed Anne a cup of coffee in a covered mug. “You didn't get a chance to eat much tonight. Why don't you go grab a plate while I cut these out? Then you can show me how you want them stitched. The sewing machine you helped me pick out does an incredible job with satin stitching. Between us, I bet we can finish the appliqués in less than an hour.”
“Oh, I couldn't. Not when everyone else is so hard at work.”
Tee walked up in time to hear Anne's protest. “You obviously haven't been watching us. We've all taken breaks to help ourselves to food or desserts. Or both.”
“Butâ”
“No buts,” Sylvia insisted. “Go and eat. Seriously, we're making good progress. Everything is cut and pieced together. Tonight, each of us will take a skirt home with us and finish the hemming and other hand work. Everything will be done tomorrow. Thursday at the latest.”
Anne's eyes filled with tears. “I don't know what to say.”
Tee nudged her, playfully. “You don't need to say anything, goose! We keep telling you, this is what friends do.”
Anne checked her watch for the hundredth time Saturday afternoon, wondering if Brad and Jennie were enjoying their visit with their relatives on the east side of the state. They'd been on her mind all day, and she'd nearly convinced herself it was due to her concern over the band. She hoped the color guard's new flags and skirts had performed as expected. The girls hadn't had very much time before the parade to get used to handling the new flags, and she hoped none had gotten tangled up or ripped. Maybe Brad would stop by the next day to let her know how things went.
Maybe not.
With a sinking heart, she reminded herself there was no longer any reason for Brad to come into The Stitching Post. He had the flags and costumes, and, since the parade was over, he would no longer need a sitter for Jennie after school either. Anne's stomach clenched at the realization. The adorable little girl had become such an important part of her life. Anne had enjoyed spending time every day with the delightful child, chatting and teaching her to sew. Anne would miss her far more than she'd expected.
She'd miss Brad, too
.
Don't think of it!
She needed to imitate her favorite fictional heroine and put off thinking about it. Scarlett O'Hara and her questionable morals might not be the best role model, but she was dead on when it came to dealing with unpleasant subjects. Anne decided she could do the same. She'd keep her thoughts at bay by immersing herself in work.
Luckily business had cooperated. A steady stream of customers kept both her and Courtney bustling all day. Anne had always been friendly, but her normal style was to greet customers then leave them alone to browse. However, on Saturday, she became much more hands on than normal. She suggested fabrics and accessories, discussed patterns, offered coffee and just spent time chatting with the women who came in. All the activity made the day pass quickly and kept her from dwelling on thoughts of Jennie and Brad. However, after she closed the shop and said goodnight to Courtney, the solitude gave her way too much time to think.
Determined to stay busy, Anne brought out the bolt of material she'd ordered for Mario's curtains. The comic print made her chuckle as she spread the fabric on the cutting counter then carefully measured and cut the four pairs of tiers. The curtains were a simple design with a minimal amount of sewing. Rod casing at the top, straight hem at the bottom, nothing complicated about them. Since she had no other plans for the evening, Anne decided to start them. If she worked over the weekend, she might be able to deliver the finished items to Mario on Monday.
Having decided, Anne moved the lengths of fabric to the work table to get started. She picked up the first panel and one of the interfacing strips she'd prepared to reinforce the rod pocket. If she were teaching a class, she'd have told her students to hand baste the two pieces together, using long stitches in a contrasting thread which could be easily seen and removed later. It was the recommended way for a novice to keep pieces from shifting while being machine-sewn. However, experienced seamstresses often circumvented this step by basting pieces together with straight pins. Now, Anne got to work pinning the top of each panel. When this was finished, she threaded one of the shop's machines with the proper shade of yellow thread then positioned one of the colorful panels on the machine. Taking care to avoid hitting a straight pin with the machine's swift-moving needle, she guided the panel under the machine's feeder foot. The finished curtains were going to be so cute in the restaurant windows.
Anne loved to sew and hummed to herself as she worked. When she finished the stitching, she used an iron and a hem clip to press a sharp fold at the top of each panel for the rod casing. The markings on the clip helped her to keep the rod pockets exactly the same width. This was an important step since a variance of as little as a quarter inch could affect how the finished curtains hung. She returned to the sewing machine and, using the feeder foot as a guide, made the first seam at the top of the rod pocket. She snipped the thread then sewed a second parallel seam for the bottom of the casing.
Caught up in the project, Anne quickly lost track of time. When she finally looked up, she was shocked to see how late it had grown. She glanced at the cash registers and frowned. The thought of carrying her deposit to the bank so late made her nervous since all the neighboring businesses would already be closed for the night. But she didn't want to leave the money in register overnight either. In the end, she decided she'd just put the deposit bag in her sewing kit and take it home with her. She'd make the deposit first thing in the morning then come back to the shop and work on Mario's curtains some more. With this decided, she unplugged the iron and sewing machine and tidied her work area. She draped the curtain panels over the back of her chair to prevent wrinkles then picked up her sewing basket and took it to the cash register.