Needled to Death

Start-2

Jessica smiled. “Got it. Well, that makes sense. At least Miss Sissy was willing to help me out.”

Beatrice frowned at Jessica’s uncertain expression. “Have you run across quilters here who aren’t willing to help out? Usually I think of it as a pretty helpful community.”

Jessica said reluctantly, “Well, maybe it’s more that I’ve caught them at the wrong time. I hate to speak poorly of someone, especially since I’m so new in town.”

Beatrice gave her a wry look. “Unfortunately, small towns are all about gossip. It’s probably nothing I haven’t heard before. Word spreads quickly here.”

Jessica nodded. “It’s just . . . well, do you know Flossie Powell?”

An image came up in Beatrice’s mind of an elegant looking woman with a chignon wearing expensive clothes. “I know who she is and I’ve met her a few times, but I wouldn’t say I really know her. Isn’t she supposed to be a speaker at one of our next meetings?” Beatrice tried to recall the business portion of the meeting she’d just attended. Will had been particularly fetching during that portion and Beatrice acknowledged she might have been distracted.

Jessica nodded. “That’s what I heard, too. I know she has a lot of experience with quilting from all aspects and that she’s been a quilt show judge on a high level. So I sought her out, like I’ve been trying to reach other people. Trying to find mentors.” She hesitated and flushed a little. “That’s not to say that I wouldn’t be looking for advice from you, Beatrice. You’ve been doing this for a while, too, haven’t you?”

Beatrice smiled at her. “No, not at all. My connection to quilting was from a very different angle. I was a curator at a museum that focused on Southern arts and crafts. I have good deal of knowledge on quilting, but not from personally doing it myself. It’s been relatively recent since I started quilting. In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m still learning the ropes.”

Jessica looked relieved that she hadn’t inadvertently put her foot in her mouth. “Well, that’s an important aspect of quilting, too. I’d love to talk with you about your experience one day. Anyway, I approached Flossie and she sort of rolled her eyes a little about meeting with me. I was really surprised because everyone that I’ve spoken with so far has been really welcoming and open about sharing what they know.”

Beatrice nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that Flossie wasn’t more open to meeting with you.Dappled Hills is a friendly town, generally.”

“Exactly. She didn’t seem happy about the idea of being a mentor at all. But she did agree to meet with me tomorrow and take a look at my quilts to tell me her thoughts. After all, if she’s judged events where there have been experimental quilts, she’ll know if I’m on the right track or not.”

Beatrice gave her a thoughtful look. “Are you sure that’s what you want? Do you need her validation for your work?”

Jessica said slowly, “I don’t think I need it for my own self-satisfaction, but I think I need it to make sure I’m not wasting my time.”

“I can tell you right now that you’re not wasting your time,” said Beatrice firmly. “You’re on the right track. I was very impressed with the quilt you brought with you today.”

“Thank you,” said Jessica, still looking a little uncertain. “I kind of lose the ability to tell if my quilting is any good or not. You know how it is—you get so wrapped up in the quilts that it’s tough to have any sort of real perspective on them. I tend to think they look great but then when I see everyone else’s quilts, they look so amazing that I’m sure I’ve got a long way to go.”

Beatrice nodded. “I think most of us feel that way. Just try not to fall into the trap of comparing your work to other quilters’. You’re doing something completely unique.”

A little group of quilters came up to speak with Jessica then, so Beatrice stood up to get ore of the food Meadow had put out. Meadow was quite a cook. Today, among other foods, she had mini tomato pies in ramekin bowls that looked absolutely amazing. She wanted to sample one before Miss Sissy ended up carting off most of the food. Beatrice was just taking one of them when she heard Piper talking with Savannah behind her.

Piper grinned at her. “You and I must be on the same wavelength. I wanted to try the tomato pie, too.”

Beatrice greeted Savannah and said, “Your Aunt Tiggy didn’t make it today? How are things going with her?”

Aunt Tiggy, who’d raised Savannah and Georgia, had come for a long visit to Dappled Hills and had decided to stay put.

Savannah gave a dry laugh. “She had a conflict today, but I’m sure she’ll be at the next meeting. She doesn’t want to join the guild or really do much quilting, but she loves catching up with everyone. And things are going great now that she has her own apartment and isn’t making dresses for Georgia and me anymore.”

Beatrice smiled. The dresses had been matching ones and were pretty awful. Fortunately, Tiggy had moved on to other interests, including dating a nice guy who was the local handyman.

Piper asked lightly, “And she’s not cooking for you anymore?”

Savannah gave a shudder. “No, thank goodness. I’m back to eating as unhealthily as I like.”

Beatrice reflected that Savannah might be eating canned pasta, potato chips, and other junk food, but you certainly couldn’t tell it to look at her angular figure.

Savannah cast a longing look over Meadow’s spectacular spread of food and said, “Speaking of unhealthy eating, I should probably make myself a plate before Meadow starts clearing everything up.”

She wandered away and Piper glanced around the large room. “I see Miss Sissy still has Will.”

“Hanging on to him for dear life,” said Beatrice wryly.

“That’s because he’s surrounded by his little fan club.”

Sure enough, Miss Sissy was holding onto Will fiercely as he was surrounded by cooing guild members.

“I’m going to take advantage of this opportunity to eat in peace,” said Piper. “Want to join me?”

Beatrice did. Although she loved just about every minute she could spend with her grandson, she did miss some of the one-on-one moments with her daughter since Will had been born. Beatrice served herself a ham biscuit and settled down on the sofa next to Piper to chat for a little while. Piper talked about Ash and how he was enjoying his promotion at the college and how much she was enjoying spending more time at home and with Will.

“I’m trying to keep him busy, though, since he enjoys being out and about and seeing people. We’re going to go to the next library story time for toddlers. Would you and Meadow like to go?”

Beatrice smiled. “I’m sure Meadow going is a foregone conclusion. You know how much she loves doing as much with Will as possible. And I do, too—you can count me in. How could I possibly turn down seeing Will and being at the library at the same time? The library is one of my favorite places.”

“I’ll email you the information on it. I can’t remember off the top of my head which day it is.”

Beatrice snorted. “There’s nothing going on in my schedule that can’t be adjusted to make story time, believe me.”

“That’s not completely true,” said Meadow who’d just swooped over from a conversation with Jessica. “Tomorrow evening, we’re going to go over to Flossie’s house and pick up round-robin materials from the Cut-Ups.”

“Yes, but that’s surely not time-specific. Flossie can’t be that much of a taskmaster.”

Meadow said, “You clearly don’t know Flossie very well. She is that much of a taskmaster and she wanted us there at a specific time because she’s having people over to dinner or something.”

Piper said quickly, “That doesn’t matter because I’m certain the library story time isn’t going to happen in the evening. That’s not a wonderful time for toddlers. Or their moms.”

Beatrice chuckled. “I remember. I called that fussy time of the day ‘happy hour’ when you were that age.”

Meadow said loyally, “Not that Will is ever really fussy.”

Piper and Beatrice shared a smile. Will would always be perfect in Meadow’s eyes. “He’s a very good boy,” said Piper.

Beatrice said, “Going back to Flossie, Meadow, I’m not totally sure I understand why it’s necessary for both of us to go over and get the materials from her. Surely that’s more of a one-person job. Or she could simply leave the fabric in a bag on her front porch for someone to pick up.”

“It was my idea for us to go over there. I thought it would be good for both of us to get to know Flossie a little better. And sort of a good will gesture between the Village Quilters and the Cut-Ups. That’s also the reason why I was getting Flossie over to give a talk to the group next time.”

“You’re not trying to spirit her away from the Cut-Ups, are you?” asked Beatrice.

Piper hid a smile. Meadow’s recruitment activities were tough to curtail. She was always very enthusiastic about obtaining new members for the guild.

“Of course not,” said Meadow with dignity, although her cheeks were a little flushed. “That would be stealing, wouldn’t it? I just think that she has so much experience and a lot she could teach our group. She was a judge on the big quilt show circuits and I know she can give us so many tips on improvement. Of course, if she succumbs to our welcoming environment here and decides to defect, that would be good, too.”

Beatrice said in a low voice, “Are we sure she’s eager to do that?”

“To defect? Oh, I don’t know,” said Meadow. She looked decidedly intrigued by the possibility.

“No, I mean, is she eager to give tips to help us improve. Jessica was telling me that Flossie wasn’t very enthusiastic about giving her quilting advice.”

Meadow knit her brows together, suddenly making herself look quite ferocious. “Really? Why on earth would she behave that way toward a young quilter when we’re trying to draw young people into the craft?”

Beatrice held up her hands as if to ward off Meadow’s fury. “It was just Jessica’s impression. She might have been a little sensitive.”

But Meadow couldn’t be pacified. “That’s simply ridiculous. Was Flossie somehow feeling threatened by Jessica’s talent? Because she is very talented, don’t y’all agree?”

Beatrice and Piper nodded. Beatrice said, “I was impressed with the quilt she brought in today and would love to see more of what she’s done.”

“Exactly. Which is a normal response. That Flossie! I have a mind to have a word with her when we see her tomorrow,” huffed Meadow.

Beatrice said mildly, “I thought it was supposed to be some sort of good will mission. At any rate, Flossie did apparently agree to meet with Jessica, even if she wasn’t overly enthusiastic about it. They’re supposed to see each other tomorrow.”

This mollified Meadow a little. She said with a sniff, “Well, at least she came to her senses. I hope that goes well.”

Piper carefully changed the subject to Meadow’s grandson and Meadow happily made the leap. They talked about Will’s latest playdate with a new friend from preschool and how it was mostly spent in parallel play with the friend.

After a few minutes of chatting and nibbling, everyone started meandering out and thanking Meadow for hosting. Boris grinned at them all as they left and everyone told him what a good dog he’d been. He gave them a lazy grin while still nosing the Kong to see if any yogurt remained in the bottom.