Quilting a Legacy by Steph B. Jones & Rachele Alpine

Author:Steph B. Jones & Rachele Alpine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2022-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

I stayed in my seat as they all went over to grab the beaded and bejeweled material. No amount of fancy polyester and cotton was going to make me a better quilter.

“This is fantastic, Ruby. Girls, your squares look amazing. I can’t believe you’re novice quilters,” Miss Taylor gushed.

“What’s a novice?” Lauren asked.

“It means ‘a beginner.’ If you ask me, you all are experts,” Miss Taylor said.

I felt far from an expert as I flicked on the power switch. But the sewing machine didn’t turn on.

I waved my hand to get Miss Taylor’s attention. “My sewing machine isn’t working. Maybe I’ll just watch you sew.”

Miss Taylor came over to me. “Let me see.”

She tried several sockets until she finally plugged the cord into a socket that made all the lights on the machine come on.

“There. I think I’d better put in a request to get these outlets fixed,” Miss Taylor said.

I slowly took out my small quilt. Even Lauren’s quilt was larger despite her missing the Wednesday classes.

“Myka, we can tell something is bothering you,” Emelyn said. “Let us help.”

Miss Taylor sat next to me. “How can we turn Myka’s frown upside down?”

“My quilt really isn’t a quilt at all. I’m nowhere near as far as you all are.” I told the other Invincible Girls and Miss Taylor how I felt discouraged, how it felt like they were all hitting home runs and I couldn’t even get past first base.

“I’m following directions. I’m not skipping any steps, but it is still taking me too long. And when I try to up my speed, everything gets messed up.”

“But, Myka, sometimes it’s okay that you’re not moving as fast as everyone else,” Emelyn said.

“I know you may disagree, but everything isn’t a race,” Lauren added.

My shoulders slumped. “Try telling that to my brothers. Everything is a competition. They’re going to tease me.”

“I’m sure they won’t tease you,” Miss Taylor said.

“Miss Taylor, my brothers dream about creative ways to tease me,” I explained.

“I think that’s in the brother’s handbook. Job one, tease your sister,” Lauren told me, and laughed. “The stepbrother’s handbook too.”

“Well, they can’t tease you if you don’t quit,” Ruby said.

“She’s right. All that matters is that you keep trying.” Miss Taylor handed me my next square, which was white with blue stripes cut from my first baseball jersey. Gammy had bought it for me when I’d still been a bun in Mom’s oven.

I took the square and lined it up to be added to another square. Emelyn, Lauren, and Ruby looked at me with big encouraging You can do it eyes. I placed my foot on the pedal and slowly stitched the squares together. Everything was in a perfect line, nice and straight. The girls cheered.

“See. You’ve got this!” Miss Taylor said. “Let’s get to work, girls.”

“I can’t wait for the showcase!” Lauren told us as she cut a piece of fabric.

My stomach dropped. That was the last thing I wanted to think about.

“Not just because we get to share our work but because I have a surprise about it,” she added.

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