The Quilt by T. Davis Bunn

Author:T. Davis Bunn [Bunn, T. Davis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Patchwork, Quilts & Quilting, Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 9780764228223
Publisher: Baker Books
Published: 1992-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

There is a lot of work that goes into a handmade quilt, long before the first stitch is ever sewn. Once the backing is stretched across the frame and the front piece is chosen and the design is selected and the various bits of cloth are all brought out and washed till they’re limp as used paper towels, once the measuring’s been done a dozen times, once the design’s cut out one time for all the other designs to be compared to, once the little sheaves of fabric are all scissored and trimmed a second time, once they’ve been mixed and matched a thousand times until all the colors are just as they should be, once the designs are laid out across the floor with one extra set put aside for covering the mistakes that are bound to happen, once the design pattern has been measured and drawn and cut from the front fabric, then and only then can the stitching begin. And as any good quilt-maker will tell you, the work doesn’t really get under way until it’s time to pick up the needle.

When Everett arrived five days later for his regular Wednesday visit, there were three ladies cutting out petals, one doing the inner circles, two busy drawing out the design on the front fabric, and another helping his mother stretch and pull and separate and flatten all the strands of cotton batting.

And what’s more, the place was as still as a church bowed in silent prayer.

Everett stood on the front stoop and peered through the screen door, not sure he belonged, and feeling truly riled over a bunch of strange women upsetting his routine. He pushed his hat back so as to be able to scratch the front of his balding head, and pressed his face up against the screen like a little boy watching his mother bake pies on a Saturday afternoon.

Without warning, one of the women starting singing, softly at first, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Before she was halfway through the first stanza, the whole room was rocking to the sound of that old-timey hymn.

At the sound of all those voices Everett suddenly felt the outsider, the one who didn’t belong. A big hole opened up about heart-level, and Everett turned and started scuffling off the porch.

“That you, son?” Everett turned to find Mary at the door.

“Momma?” It startled him, seeing her through the screen. It was somehow like Mary had dropped thirty years, her gentle features losing all their wrinkles and turning the clock back to when he was a little boy.

Mary pushed the screen aside, and Everett felt his heart slow down as the old woman appeared in the natural light.

“Come on in, son. I doubt the coffee’s much good, I was up so early this morning. Maybe I ought to make another pot.”

“I just brewed some up fresh, Miss Mary,” said a voice from inside. “Hope that’s all right.”

“Well, bless you, child. I know Everett’ll be pleased.”

But Everett wasn’t

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