Robyn Echols and her Christmas Story, The Fourteenth Quilt

About The Fourteenth Quilt:

Annie, Celia and Lynn are all that are left of the Relief Society quilting class, but they are still determined to make baby quilts for the new mothers at church. Annie, who is just south of eighty years old, calls the quiltsters (short for quilting sisters) together to ask for more. She wants to make lap quilts to give to some of the “forgotten” oldsters she sings to each week at the nursing home—something to wrap them in love at Christmastime. It’s a good idea, but the trio discovers that life and making quilts don’t always go as planned.

The quiltsters discuss recipes and quilting ideas including a crocheted cat mat to use up their fabric selvage and trim scraps, all of which they share in the book.

Sarah and Brian meet at the university. Their first date is after Sarah’s First Saturday Block of the Month class she attends with her mom at the local quilt shop. Their romance grows, and they plan their future together—a plan that will require them to be separated for six months before their wedding. But, can they bear to be apart that long?

What wraps together this Christmas tale? The Fourteenth Quilt. 

Excerpt #2:         (Quiltsters)

          “Okay, here they are,” said Annie as she returned clutching five puffy quilts in her arms. Celia and Lynn shoved everything on the big table aside so Annie had room to drop her armload.

         

“This one here is the giant star block Celia cut out and sewed together to show

me how to do this pattern for a quilt I made for my daughter,” said Annie as she picked up a lap quilt with a thirty-six inch Sarah’s Choice block using dark blue and a tiny blue floral pattern. “She used only two pieces of scrap fabric to make this. I couldn’t see it going to waste just as a sample. See how I bordered it with a couple of rows of coordinating strips and finished it off? How do you like the back I picked out for it?”

          Lynn cooed her approval at the coordinating blue floral backing.

          “Then Celia and I made this out of triangles sewn into squares,” said Annie as she picked up the next quilt.

          “This one will knock your eyeballs right out of your head,” Celia commented, “But, it turned out pretty good.”

          Lynn blinked at the large splashes of hot pink and fluorescent green as Annie held the quilt open.

          “The right person is going to love it,” murmured Lynn. She then focused her attention on a different quilt. “Now, is this one of the baby quilts?”

          “No, no,” Annie shook her head as she reached for the next quilt. “Most of these are lap quilts for the rest home.”

          After Annie had finished showing her the completed quilts, Lynn asked, “Tell me again, what is your plan for these other quilts that are not baby quilts for the new mothers in the ward?”

          “You know, I sing for three rest homes. I love to sing to those oldsters. They are so happy to see me and it just makes my day to be with them.”

          Lynn refrained from pointing out Annie was probably older than many of the “oldsters” at the rest homes.

          “But, some of those oldsters have no one to visit them. A few don’t have any family in the area and some are just dumped off and forgotten. I want to make sure I have enough quilts so those who don’t get anything else for Christmas will receive at least one gift—a beautiful quilt made with love.”

          “That’s what we work on every Monday,” said Celia.

          “I really like your plan,” said Lynn. “The quilt guild donates to a lot of good organizations, but I like this project, too. So, if we’re making these for the oldsters, what does that make us? Quiltsters, short for ‘quilt sisters?’”

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About Robyn Echols:

Robyn Echols has been writing since she was in junior high school. By choice, she spent most of her evening hours in her "dungeon", as her mother called her downstairs bedroom, writing stories, only joining her family in front of the television upstairs when her favorite programs were playing. She has spent hours learning and teaching family history topics, and focuses on history from a genealogist's perspective of seeking out the details of everyday life in the past.

Now Robyn resides with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite” and has fun researching and writing the books that she hopes will interest and entertain her readers. She writes Young Adult/New Adult and contemporary fiction under Robyn Echols and adult historical romance under her pen name, Zina Abbott.

The author is a member of Women Writing the West, American Night Writers Association, and Modesto Writers Meet Up. She currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.

Author Links:

Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Pinterest

Goodreads  |  Amazon Author Page

Quilt Gateway blog (See posts for September 2015)

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Purchase Links:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble