The Rescue Quilt Read online

  “Martha, you know how important it was for Timothy to tell you this himself. This was his news to tell, not mine.”

  “News? It’s much more than news,” her voice still laced with sarcasm.

  “I’m sorry I had to keep it from you, Martha. Why don’t you come over and have dinner so we can talk. I know you’re upset.”

  “I don’t want to come over there, and I don’t want to talk.” Martha hung up.

  Sarah shook her head wishing her daughter could handle problems without first striking out at everyone within reach. She finished drying the snow off Barney and followed him into the kitchen. After his outings he always felt entitled to a treat and he was usually right. He carried the biscuit across the kitchen to his mat and attempted to make room for himself next to Boots the cat who was sprawled out leaving little room for him.

  The phone rang and Sarah smiled to see her daughter’s name on the display. “Hi Martha,” she answered calmly.

  “I’d rather meet somewhere. Could we go to Tony’s for pizza? Just the two of us?”

  “Sounds fine. I’ll see you there in a half hour.”

  Sarah arrived before Martha and found a table in the corner near the fireplace. She went ahead and ordered two glasses of wine and looked over the menu while watching the door.

  When Martha came in Sarah was prepared for her to be angry, but instead she looked like she’d been crying. Sarah stood and Martha walked into her arms.

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to jump all over you. I’m just so upset. I don’t know what to do. I love Tim but I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “Sit down, sweetheart, and take a sip of your wine. I’ve ordered us each a cup of minestrone while we decide what we’ll have for dinner.”

  “What about Charles?” Martha asked.

  “I told him we’d bring him a pizza.”

  Martha smiled and touched her mother’s hand across the table. “I’m sorry I got so angry, Mom. I don’t know what got into me; this isn’t your fault.”

  “You’re scared, honey. This is a very big thing. If you marry this man, you’ll be an instant mother of a teenage child – a child with lots of baggage. Anyone would be upset.”

  “Upset, yes, but I was unfair to you. I really do understand why you couldn’t tell me and I’m glad I heard it first from Timothy. I think he’s as scared as I am. Neither one of us has any idea how to care for a child.”

  “Have you met her?”

  “Not yet. Tim said she’s shy and doesn’t want to meet anyone yet, but he said his mother is getting along with her just fine. I guess the dog helps. Penny’s crazy about Emma. Have you met the child?” Martha asked.

  “No. Sophie told me the same thing. They’re just letting her set the pace. She’s really bonded with Sophie’s dog though. Emma’s been sleeping with Penny every night.” Sarah smiled as she thought about how a dog can reach into a person’s heart and ease the pain. “It’s that unconditional love she’s giving Penny, something she probably lost when she lost her mother.”

  “I don’t know if I have that to give. You have it, but I don’t think I do. Sometimes I can be so judgmental…”

  “Honey, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ve travelled a hard road and have had to toughen up. But I know the softness is there. Remember, I knew you when you were growing up and there couldn’t have been a more loving child. You have it in you; you just haven’t had an opportunity to use it. At work, you’re isolated in your laboratory and, until you met Tim, you haven’t had much in the way of a personal life since the divorce. Just relax and let it come naturally.”

  “Assuming it ever will,” she responded in a defeated tone. “I guess I’m a little afraid of the child, too. What if she doesn’t like me? What if…”

  “Martha, slow down. This probably isn’t any of my business, but have you made a commitment to Timothy?”

  “A commitment?”

  “Have you agreed to marry him,” she clarified bluntly.

  “Oh. No, we enjoy being together and when we talk about the future, it includes both of us together, but we haven’t actually verbalized it that way. I suppose we might have -- but now, I just don’t know.”

  “So, what I’m saying, I guess, is you don’t need to make a commitment to Penny either at this time. Just meet her. Go out with her and Tim. Maybe take her shopping. Just see where it goes. You don’t have to like her and you don’t have to marry Timothy. Just take it, as Andy says, “one day at a time.”

  When their meals arrived, they lapsed into lighter conversation with Sarah telling her daughter some of the outrageous tales Sophie told about her experiences in the Pup Mobile. “My guess is,” she added with a chuckle, “that many of her stories are grossly exaggerated, but they’re all fun to hear.”

  “If anyone can help that young girl adjust to her new life,” Martha said thoughtfully, “it will be Sophie.”

  Chapter 12

  “Good evening everyone,” Ruth announced as she walked into the already filled classroom. She had just locked the door to the shop and was ready to relax with the Friday Night Quilters. She reached around the corner into the shop’s kitchenette and brought out a platter of assorted cookies and placed it in the center of the large table the group had created by pushing four workstations together in the middle of the room. “Help yourselves to coffee or tea and let’s get started. First of all, let’s meet our guest. Sarah, would you tell us who you brought with you tonight?”

  “I’d love to,” Sarah responded with a big smile as she stood and turned to the woman sitting next to her. “This is my friend and neighbor, Sophie Ward. Sophie is the person responsible for this project. She volunteers with a pet transportation service called Sheila’s Shuttle. She transports animals from shelters to foster homes or to their forever homes, and she is currently fostering a wonderful dog named Emma. Sophie told me about the need for funds in the animal rescue world and helped me to design our suggestion for a rescue quilt that can be raffled off as a fund raiser.”

  By this time Sophie was blushing and making dismissive hand gestures at Sarah. Everyone clapped and welcomed Sophie to the group.

  “Sophie,” Ruth said, “We’re very happy to have you with us.” Turning to the group, she added, “Let’s all introduce ourselves. “Christina, will you start?”

  “Sure,” Christina responded. “I’m Christina and this is my sister, Kimberly. We’ve been in the club since the beginning. What has it been,” she asked turning toward Ruth, “about ten years now?”

  “We started the group right after I opened the shop, so yes, that was ten years ago,” Ruth responded.

  Since her sister had already introduced her, Kimberly simply said, “Glad to meet you, Sophie. I hope you keep coming.”

  Delores was sitting next to Kimberly and was the most experienced in the group. “Hi Sophie. We’re all happy to have you join us. Actually, I met you last year in the shop at Ruth’s anniversary party.”

  “I remember,” Sophie responded with growing excitement. “You were serving that incredible chocolate cake – the one with the chocolate curls on top.”

  “Yes,” Kimberly exclaimed. “You called it the Ultimate Chocolate Sin.”

  “I’d almost forgotten about that recipe,” Delores responded. “Double cream, as I recall, mounds of dark chocolate, and a dreadful amount of sugar. Oh, and lots and lots of butter...”

  “Ooh,” the group moaned in unison.

  “Okay,” Ruth said laughing as she attempted to get the group back on track. “Let’s get on with the introductions. Allison?”

  “Hello Sophie. I’m Allison Bennett. I have an Aunt Sophia. Is that your real name?”

  “Actually, it’s not a nickname. My mother named me Sophie for one of her friends who was probably a Sophia, but my mother only knew her as Sophie.”

  Allison had a small pillow on her lap and was working on an applique project. She held the project up for the group to see. “I started this at our last meeting
and it’s almost finished. I’m hoping to have it framed for my sister in time for her birthday.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Sophie responded, squinting to see the detail. Allison carried it over to her so she could see it up close. “Really exquisite,” Sophie added.

  Allison sat back down and arranged her project across the pillow she held on her lap. “What’s that little pillow for?” Sophie asked.

  “It keeps my hands and elbows elevated so there’s not as much stress on my neck and shoulders.”

  “Good idea,” Sophie responded. “I think that would help me with my embroidery projects.”

  “It would, Sophie,” Ruth offered. “I have a couple of lap pillows in the back if you’d like to look at them after the meeting.”

  “Thank you, Ruth. I’d like to see them.” Looking at the next person, Sophie smiled and said, “And I already know this young lady. Hi Caitlyn.” Caitlyn was Andy’s sixteen year old daughter and the youngest member of the group. She had been coming to the meetings sporadically at first but had attended all the meetings for the last six months. Andy had told Sophie that his daughter really enjoyed being included and was spending more and more time sewing at home.

  “Hi Sophie,” Caitlyn responded. “I hope you keep coming. We have lots of fun.”

  “We do,” the woman sitting next to Caitlyn added softly. “I’m Margaret, by the way.” She dropped her eyes and didn’t say anything else. Margaret had only been in the group for a few months and seemed extremely shy, although she had produced some extraordinary items.

  Sensing Margaret’s discomfort, Ruth moved on to the next person. “Jolene?”

  “Hi, I’m Jolene and I can’t wait to start looking at what people came up with for this rescue quilt.” Jolene had moved to Middletown from a small town in Texas and everyone enjoyed the twang she brought with her. “Let’s get this show on the road,” she added eagerly. “Oh, and this is my friend Tessa. She helped me with my idea.”

  “Tessa, are you a quilter?” Ruth asked.

  “No, I wouldn’t know which end of the needle to thread,” she hooted.

  “I can relate to that,” Sophie muttered just loud enough for Sarah to hear.

  “I’m just here visiting Jolene,” Tessa continued in a more serious tone. “I’m on my way back to Texas tomorrow.”

  “We’re glad to have you with us,” Ruth responded. “Okay Sophie, you’ve met most of the club. We have a few other members, but these are our regulars.”

  “By the way,” Delores said, “Sophie, do you quilt?”

  “No, but if my friend here keeps nagging at me about it, I might have to give up and learn how,” she responded. Once the ice was broken, Sophie relaxed and began to entertain the group with her animal-transporting tales.

  Finally Ruth spoke up saying, “Well Sophie, we’re delighted that you came tonight and it’s unlikely that we’ll let you get away. You’ll be quilting before you know it.” Everyone clapped their encouragement. “Now,” she added, “let’s decide what our quilt will look like.” Several of the members began pulling projects out of their tote bags. “I can hardly wait to see your ideas. Who wants to go first?”

  No one volunteered, so Kimberly and her sister Christina stood up and walked over to the design wall. They had each made a block that they placed on the flannel wall. Kimberley had done a Duck and Ducklings block with a fussy-cut square in the middle surrounded by small Flying Geese blocks. Her sister did a Goose Tracks block. “We were thinking of a sampler quilt using blocks named for different animals. Everyone could choose a block to make and we could put them all together with sashing.”

  Delores who was the oldest person in the club and the most experienced spoke up saying, “That’s a terrific idea, girls. There’s the Fox and Geese block, Doves in the Window, Hens and Chicks, Flight of Swallows …”

  “How about the Bear’s Paw?” Caitlyn called out. With Sarah’s help, she had just completed a Bear’s Paw quilt for her bed.

  “That’s a good one,” Allison responded. “Most of the traditional blocks have to do with birds and wild animals, don’t they? I can’t think of any having to do with dogs or cats.”

  “Well, all types of animals need to be rescued at one time or another…”

  “That’s true, so how about the Buffalo Ridge...”

  “…and the Money Wrench…”

  The group, at this point, was giggling and tossing out names of blocks.

  “Oh! Oh! I’ve got it,” someone called out. “There’s the Cat’s Cradle and the Calico Puzzle.”

  “…and Puss in the Corner…”

  “Excellent,” Ruth said enthusiastically. “Okay, so we have one suggestion on the table. Does anyone else have another idea for our rescue quilt?

  “Before we go on, I have a question about this one. People who don’t know the names of quilt blocks won’t realize our quilt has to do with animals.”

  “We could make a label for the back, which lists the names of each block.”

  “Great idea,” Delores responded. “I have an embroidery machine and I could make the label.”

  “Excellent,” Ruth exclaimed. “Now are there any other suggestions for a quilt design?”

  “Mine is very simple,” Margaret said quietly. “I was just thinking that we all have fabrics in our stash with pictures of animals. We could make a single Irish chain with a colorful nine patch block alternating with a fussy cut animal picture.”

  “That would be interesting,” Delores commented. “The quilt would be covered with animal pictures with a chain going horizontally between them.”

  “I have a whole section of animal motifs here in the shop,” Ruth offered. “That would indeed be interesting and very unusual. Anyone else?”

  Jolene stood and tugged on Tessa sleeve, encouraging her to stand. “Come on,” she said. “You promised to help.” The two women stood by the design wall and Jolene pulled a block out of her tote bag. “Now this one is my dog.” She went on to say that her husband had transferred the photograph onto white muslin. She had used the picture as the center of a Friendship Star block using colors that complemented her black and white border collie. “And Tessa…” she began, encouraging her friend to display the second block.

  “This is my dog,” Tessa announced as she placed the block on the design wall. “Jelly Bean is a corgi and he helps my husband on the ranch back home.”

  “Her husband fancies himself a rough and tumble cowboy,” Jolene added giggling. Tessa shot her a look, indicating this was a long-standing private joke. “Show them the other one,” Jolene encouraged.

  “Okay, this one is my son’s dog,” and she added a pink friendship star block surrounding the picture of a tiny Chihuahua with a ribbon in her hair. She was proudly perched on the arm of a strapping soldier dressed in military fatigues. “Her name is Missy.”

  Everyone laughed. Sophie asked, “What does your cowboy think of his son’s dog?”

  “We don’t discuss it,” Tessa responded.

  “So Jolene,” Kimberly asked, “how did your husband get the pictures onto the fabric?”

  “I know the answer to that,” Sarah spoke up. “We did that at my mountain retreat last fall.” She proceeded to describe the technique and Jolene volunteered her husband’s services. Ruth added that she had the kits if anyone wanted to try it themselves.

  “I don’t have a dog,” Allison remarked.

  “Neither do we,” Christina added.

  “Perhaps we could take a field trip to the shelter and take pictures. That way we could say that some of the dogs on our quilt are waiting to be adopted.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Ruth added. “Also, we all have friends with dogs. I’m sure we can come up with enough pictures for a quilt. Any other comments about this one?”

  No one spoke so Ruth asked if there were any other suggestions.

  “My friend here has an idea,” Sophie offered, wondering why Sarah hadn’t spoken up.

  “It’s not jus
t my idea,” Sarah responded. “Sophie and I came up with this one together.” She walked up to the design board carrying the pizza box that she used to transport completed quilt blocks. Sophie had once asked her if they didn’t get greasy, but Sarah assured her she had gone to the pizza place for a clean box.

  Sarah pulled out the first block she had made and placed it on the wall. The group responded with ooh’s and ah’s. The block was a five-sided Log Cabin block with a fabric in the center featuring a dog. The dog appeared to be sitting in a colorful dog house. She had added sky and grass fabrics to complete the block and had trimmed it to a rectangle.

  She then placed a second one on the board. This one had two dogs in the dog house with a colorful sunset sky and flowers in the yard. The third one, she explained, was a Courthouse Steps block but was still five sided with the two upper blocks forming the roof. Everyone was talking at this point and clearly loved the design.

  “I think this is the one we should do,” someone called out. “It’s adorable!”

  “Let’s vote on it,” Ruth said as she ripped pages out of a small pad and passed them around. “But these are all good ideas, and I think we should make all of them if this turns out to be a good source of funds for the shelter. Write down your choice for this first one.”

  Once Ruth had all the folded sheets back, she opened them one by one and placed them all on one pile while everyone watched eagerly. “Okay, we have a winner,” Ruth said beaming. “The winner is Dog Houses by Sarah and Sophie.” Everyone clapped their approval. “And I’d like to add that it was unanimous.”

  All speaking at once, the group talked about the animal fabrics they had in their stash. Once they settled down, Ruth asked Margaret, Kimberly, Jolene, and Christina to save their designs for their next rescue quilt. The group decided that the next meeting would be a work shop and everyone would bring a bag of brightly colored scraps and any dog fabric that had on hand.

  “We’ll look at what we have,” Ruth said, “and fill in what we need with fabric from the shop. I’ll provide the sashing, borders, and back along with any additional pieces we need. I’m hoping you ladies have some dog fabrics. I don’t have much on hand.”