The Double Wedding Ring by Clare O' Donohue Read Free Book Online

more fabric in your stash than we have at the shop.”
    She smiled. “You never know when there will be a blight on the cotton crop, and we’ll run out of fabric.”
    â€œDon’t even think it.” I laughed. “What would we do at quilt group if we didn’t have quilts to show?”
    â€œAside from gossip and eat?”
    â€œExactly. The quilts provide cover for the real activities.”
    Bernie sighed. “I won’t be able to make the meeting Friday. I’m going to Boston Tuesday for a pharmaceutical convention and I thought I’d stay for the weekend and visit some sites.”
    â€œI can’t make it either,” Natalie said. “My in-laws are coming for dinner.”
    It had been like this a lot lately. When I first joined, nothing short of a funeral kept the entire group from meeting every Friday, but things had gotten busier for everyone. It wasn’t unusual to have only half in attendance. With Eleanor moving, and the shop’s future in question, it could get to the point where we just disbanded.
    As Natalie cut, Bernie examined a sketch I’d made of a quilt I was thinking of doing. It was a medallion quilt. It featured an appliqué of flowers in the center, surrounded by row after row of borders, some pieced, and some appliqués of animals and flowers.
    â€œThis is stunning, Nell.”
    I blushed. “Thanks. I did it in art class when I was supposed to be doing a still life of a vase full of roses. I just kept thinking how much better I would like it in fabric. I was also thinking . . .” I grabbed my sketch pad and flipped a few pages forward, “that this sketch of the gazebo in the park would make a nice quilt. I could simplify it a little so it would be easier to appliqué.”
    â€œThis blue . . .” she held up one of the bolts of blue fabric, “would make an excellent choice for the sky.”
    â€œI was thinking maybe several layers of different blues.” I grabbed the fabrics I had planned to use. I was getting excited now, as talking about a new quilt always made me.
    â€œYou should make it for Eleanor and Oliver. What an amazing wedding gift.”
    That stopped me. “Do you think there’s time? We already have the quilt we’re making as a group. I was assuming I’d buy them something. I just hadn’t figured out what it would be.”
    â€œBuy something?” Bernie looked horrified. “But you paint and quilt. You have to make them something. It’s so much more special.”
    â€œThere’s nothing I could make them that would be nicer than what they could do themselves,” I said. “Oliver’s paintings hang in museums and Eleanor . . .” I waved my hand around the shop, and the many beautiful quilts that decorated the place. “Eleanor’s quilts are stunning.”
    â€œWhich is why they will both appreciate your considerable talents turned into a one-of-a-kind wedding gift,” she said. “Buy something?” She shook her head in disbelief. “I’m surprised at you. Of course, if you do make this for Eleanor, don’t start it on a Friday. Friday quilts are ill-fated.”
    â€œWhy?” Natalie asked.
    â€œIf you start a quilt on a Friday you won’t live to see it finished.”
    â€œIf that were true, quilters would be dropping like flies,” I pointed out.
    â€œFine, don’t believe in quilt superstitions,” Bernie said. “Even though they’ve been around for generations and have served us all well.” She tried to look annoyed, but she smiled at herself. Bernie was still true to her sixties hippie youth, and she loved breaking with tradition more than anyone. But some traditions even Bernie believed in. “At least embroider a spider on it for good luck. I don’t see smooth sailing for this wedding, so we need all the luck we can get.”
    She wasn’t