The Healing Quilt (25 page)

“I got in touch with Randy, and he’s going over to the restaurant right now to see about that job,” Jennifer said as she returned to the room and took a seat beside Kim.

Kim patted Jennifer’s arm in a motherly fashion. “I hope it all works out.”

“Yeah, me too. It gives me a ray of hope, at least.”

“Please let us know how it all turns out,” Emma said.

“Yes, I will.”

“Well, now that we’re all here, we’d better get started. Today we’ll be cutting out the batting for your wall hangings, and then we’ll begin the quilting process.”

“Oh great. More sewing on that dumb sewing machine.” Erika wrinkled her nose, like some foul order had permeated the room. “I had a hard time holding the material straight last week when I sewed the pieces of material together.” It was the first thing the girl had said since she’d gotten here, and as usual, it was something negative.

“Actually, the quilting will be done by hand, with a needle and thread,” Emma explained. “But before we begin the actual process, you’ll each need to cut a piece of cotton batting about two inches larger on all sides than your quilt top.”

“The excess batting will be trimmed even with the quilt top after the quilting stitches have been done,” Lamar interjected.

B.J. and the rest of the class watched as Lamar and Emma demonstrated how it should be done.

“I’ll explain the details of the quilting process once you’ve all cut out your batting,” Emma went on to say. “So let’s begin that now.”

Everyone did as she asked, and as they cut, Noreen looked over at B.J. and said, “You’re doing it wrong. The piece you cut is too small.” She clicked her tongue. “I suppose some people can’t do anything right.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” B.J. asked.

“Nothing,” she mumbled.

They worked awhile longer, then Noreen turned to B.J. and said, “You sure messed up where my sister was concerned.”

“I was going to wait until we could talk in private,” B.J. said, “but since you brought the subject up, I’d like to know what I did to Judy that was so terrible. I mean, a guy ought to have the right to break up with a girl without her sister carrying a grudge all these years and treating him like he’s got the plague.”

Noreen set her work aside and glared at B.J. “Since you obviously don’t mind the whole class knowing about your sordid past, I’ll tell you exactly what you did to Judy.”

The room became quiet as B.J. leaned closer to Noreen and said, “Please do.”

“First of all, you took advantage of my sister’s innocence and talked her into sleeping with you.”

Seeing the look of shock on everyone’s face, B.J. wished there was a hole in the floor so he could crawl into it and hide. This was so embarrassing!

B.J. was about to offer an explanation, but Noreen spoke again. “When you found out that Judy was carrying your child, why did you run off to college to fulfill your dream of becoming an artist? Couldn’t you have stayed in Columbus and taken responsibility for your actions?”

The shock of hearing this sent B.J.’s mind whirling. He couldn’t deny that he and Judy had been intimate, but she’d never told him she was pregnant. He’d broken up with her because his parents said if he didn’t they wouldn’t pay for his schooling, and he’d really wanted a degree in art. What a shock to learn that Judy had been carrying his child.

Noreen’s finger trembled as she shook it at B.J. “Choosing your career over my sister was pretty selfish, don’t you think?”

“If I had known Judy was pregnant, I would have married her.”

“I’ll bet you would.”

“You have to believe me,” he said. “I’m not the kind of man who would shirk his responsibilities.” Sweat beaded on B.J.’s forehead as a sense of panic welled in his chest. “Give me the chance to apologize to Judy and meet our child. Please tell me where she lives, or at least give me her phone number.”

Noreen shook her head. “It’s too late for that. Judy is gone, and so is your son.”

B
.J.’s eyes widened as his mouth dropped open. “I—I have a son?”

Heat flooded Noreen’s face, and she covered her mouth with the palm of her hand. She hadn’t planned to let Bruce know that he had a son, but she couldn’t take back what she’d said. She would have to be careful not to tell Bruce any more, for her sister’s ex-boyfriend had no right to know anything about his son. Worse yet, if the truth came out, Judy’s son would be crushed, and Noreen feared it might ruin her relationship with him.

“Where is Judy, and where is our boy?” B.J. asked in an emotion-filled voice.

Noreen drew in a calming voice. All eyes and ears seemed to be upon her, and she wished she could crawl under the table. “My sister is dead. She died from complications during childbirth.” She choked back the sob rising in her throat. Even after all these years, it was difficult to talk about. Now, with the father of Judy’s son staring at her from across the table, it was more painful than she ever thought possible.

B.J. winced as though he’d been slapped. “I—I’m so sorry about Judy. I had no idea. Why didn’t someone tell me this?”

“Would you have cared?” Noreen asked, searching through her tote bag for a tissue.

“Of course I would, and I still do.” He paused and clutched his chest, as though in pain. “What about the baby? Did he die, too?”

Noreen was tempted to say that Bruce’s son had also died, but she had a feeling he’d be able to see through her lie. “Judy’s baby was adopted by a good family,” she said, blowing her nose and dropping her gaze to the table.

“Do you know who they are? Do you have any information about the boy’s whereabouts?”

“No, I do not, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Dabbing at the moisture beneath her eyes, Noreen picked up her scissors to finish cutting the batting.

B.J.’s eyes narrowed. “I think you do know where he is. I have a feeling you’re keeping it from me.”

She shook her head vigorously. “I’ve told you all that I know. If you had wanted to be a part of your son’s life, then you shouldn’t have run off like you did.”

His jaw clenched. “I told you I did not know Judy was pregnant.”

Mike cleared his throat real loud, and everyone turned to look at him. “It’s obvious that you two have some issues, but this isn’t the place to be airing them out. The rest of us came here to learn how to quilt, and you’re taking up our time with your personal problems. You oughta deal with all of this after class. I can’t speak for everyone else, but you two going back and forth at each other is making me uncomfortable.”

“Mike is right,” Erika spoke up. “This isn’t the place to be airing out your differences.”

“Actually, it might be exactly the place,” Jan interjected. “During the quilt classes I took at Emma’s home up in Shipshe, everyone in the class had some sort of problem. We were all like a bunch of broken shells on the beach, and it seemed like there was no way to put the pieces together. But once we started talkin’ about things, we felt better.” Jan looked at Emma and smiled. “Our special teacher here not only taught us how to quilt, but gave us spiritual guidance as well.”

“I take no credit for that,” Emma was quick to say. “It was the Lord, guiding and directing my words. And because my students were open to change, He was able to heal hearts and give those who’d been hurting a new perspective.” She paused a moment. “In Ezekiel 34:16 it says, ‘I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick, saith the Lord God.’”

“That’s a great verse, Emma,” Jan said. “I think many of your students, includin’ yours truly, were broken people in need of healing.”

Noreen’s shoulders stiffened, wishing she could flee the room. Well, she’d run out last week, but she wouldn’t do it again. It would be a sign of weakness. “I don’t need any guidance, or a new perspective,” she muttered. “I signed up for these classes to learn how to quilt, and for no other reason. So let’s get on with our lesson.”

Emma looked at Lamar, hoping he might say something, but all he gave was a quick nod. Assuming that meant she should proceed with the lesson, Emma waited while everyone worked on their batting, and she sent up a silent prayer that this class would end on a good note. She never dreamed her quilt classes would hold so many surprises, but it seemed that each one of them had so far. Well, at least these quilting students were finally beginning to open up. She just hoped it would end with healing. For now, though, she needed to concentrate on teaching today’s lesson.

Once Emma saw that everyone had finished cutting their batting, she held up one of the small wooden frames Lamar had made. “In order to create a smooth, even quilting surface, all three layers of your quilt will need to be put in a frame like this,” she said. “If you were making a larger quilt, you would need a quilting frame that could stretch the entire quilt at one time.” Emma paused to be sure everyone was listening; then she continued. “Since your wall hangings are much smaller than a full-size quilt, you can use a smaller frame such as this.”

“That looks sort of like the embroidery hoop I’ve seen my grandma use,” Jennifer said.

Emma nodded. “That’s correct, and it’s important when using this type of hoop to baste your entire quilt together through all three layers. This will keep the layers stretched tightly while you are quilting.”

“Just be sure you don’t quilt over the basting,” Lamar added. “Because it will be hard to remove later on.” He snickered. “Oh, and be careful not to stitch your blouse or shirt to the quilt, like one of our previous students did.”

Jan rolled his eyes. “I’ll bet it was my buddy Terry. That sounds like something he’d end up doing.”

“You’re right. That did happen to Terry,” Emma agreed.

Jan slapped his knee. “Figured as much.”

Emma then told the class about needle sizes, pointing out that it was best to try several and see which one seemed the most comfortable to use. “It’s also a good idea to use a thimble on your middle finger for pushing the quilting needle, because the needle has to go through three layers of fabric to create the quilting pattern.” Following that, she passed around a tray full of various thimbles. “Now, if everyone will choose a needle and thimble, you can begin the quilting process.”

Emma waited until everyone had done as she asked, the whole time watching the body language between Noreen and B.J. They obviously both carried a lot of pain, and perhaps some serious regrets. She hoped they would be able to work it out and prayed that God would show Lamar and her if there was anything they could do. The Lord seemed to be using this quilt class already, by bringing B.J. and Noreen together after all these years. It had happened before, when Star and Jan learned they were father and daughter during Emma’s first set of quilting classes. Then last year, Emma had been reunited with her sister, Betty, whom she hadn’t even known about. Surely it was no coincidence in how that had all happened. If Noreen and B.J. could just set their hostilities aside and talk things through, perhaps their reunion might turn into something good.

Setting aside her thoughts, Emma explained that the next step would be to mark the design they wanted on their quilt top. “However,” she added, “if you just want to outline the patches you’ve sewn with quilting stitches, no marking is necessary.”

“You’ll need to quilt close to the seam so the patch will be emphasized,” Lamar interjected. “Oh, and don’t forget, your stitches should be small and even. They also need to be snug but not so tight that they’ll cause any puckering.”

“I’ll demonstrate on my own quilt patch,” Emma said, picking it up and showing everyone the correct way to pull the needle and thread through the material to create the quilting pattern.

Mike’s forehead wrinkled. “That looks too hard for me. My hands are big and the only thing I’ve ever sewn is a button on my shirt—and Phyllis had to help me with that.”

“Speaking of Phyllis, how is her sister doing these days?” Emma asked.

“Better, but her leg’s not healed well enough so she can be on her own yet,” Mike replied. “They’ve been having some nasty weather in North Dakota lately, so Phyllis won’t come home until she’s sure Penny can manage okay without her.”

“That’s understandable,” Kim spoke up. “It would be bad enough to be laid up with a broken leg, but trying to get around on crutches while wearing a cast could be dangerous, not to mention difficult.”

“You’ve got that right,” Mike agreed.

“Can we get back to our lesson now?” Noreen looked at Emma. “Will we be expected to finish the quilting process today?”

Emma shook her head. “Whatever you don’t get done can be finished next week. During our final lesson, you will finish your wall hanging by putting the binding on.” Emma glanced at B.J., who now seemed almost subdued as he continued to work on his project. “Now if any of you needs help today, just let either Lamar or me know.” Emma motioned to Jan, sitting close to Kim. “I’m sure Jan would be willing to help out, too, since he’s taken the class and is familiar with the procedure.”

“I’d be more than willing to help.” Jan smiled at Kim. “So don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything.”