Elm Creek Quilts [12] The Winding Ways Quilt Read Online Free PDF Page B

why I wanted to cancel my trip.”
    “Not me,” Judy overheard one camper whisper to another. “I’d get the heck out of there before the next calamity struck.”
    “When I told my husband I couldn’t possibly go without my friends, he insisted that I come anyway. He packed my suitcase, drove me to the airport, dropped me off at the curb, and told me he’d see me in a week. It was all I could do to get on the plane. I’m so worried that it’s going to be like high school all over again—no one to sit with at lunch, no one to chat with before class, and watching all the fun from the outside of the circle. So. Why am I here?” Marcia fell silent. “To improve my quilting, of course. My friends are counting on me to share everything I learn with them. But I’m also hoping to make some new friends. I’ve joined a few Internet quilt lists, and the ladies are always talking about how much fun they have with their quilting friends when they finally meet in person, and how quilters are such wonderful, welcoming people. I decided to be brave and find out for myself. Honestly, if I can’t make friends among quilters, then I must really be a hopeless case.”
    A few murmurs of protest went up from the circle, but they quickly fell silent.
    “I’m going to try my best, but I have a favor to ask of all of you.” Marcia’s voice had fallen to a near whisper again. “I know it’s easy to forget us outsiders when you’re having so much fun with your old friends, but please try to be more aware of the people who sit outside your usual circle of quilters, and consider stretching that circle a bit to let in someone new.”
    Quickly Marcia passed the candle to the next quilter, her face flushed and eyes downcast. Judy doubted she had ever said anything so confrontational in her life. As confrontations went, it was fairly mild, but Judy knew that some of the women were bound to take Marcia’s plea the wrong way, as criticism instead of a cry for acceptance. Sure enough, Judy saw one woman roll her eyes and whisper in the ear of a friend, whose shoulders shook with silent laughter. Disappointed, Judy looked away, but then she was heartened to see the three women who had arrived in matching fuchsia T-shirts whispering and nodding together as they cast smiles in Marcia’s direction. The shy woman completely missed their friendly glances, so intently was she staring at the gray patio stones beneath her brown sandals. Judy hoped the fuchsia-clad women planned to invite Marcia to sit with them at breakfast the next morning. Time would tell.
    The woman seated at Marcia’s right was at least twenty years her senior, with short, wild curls and bifocals. She regarded Marcia with maternal fondness as she took the candle. “Thank you, Marcia, for reminding us that circles can exclude as well as include. I hope we will all resolve not to be miserly with our friendships.” She looked around the circle of shadowed faces in a way that reminded Judy of her fair-minded but firm seventh-grade teacher. “My name is Doris and I’m from Lincoln, Nebraska. Three summers ago, I could barely sew on a button—unlike my four best girlfriends, who had quilted for years and were always going on quilt retreats and shop hops. Whenever the four of us got together, they would talk about their adventures and I would feel terribly left out and, I admit, the tiniest bit jealous. I decided to learn to quilt just to keep up with them, so I signed up for a week of Elm Creek Quilt Camp, and I was hooked. Now, not only do I get to join in my friends’ quilting adventures back home, but I’ve also made more wonderful friends here.” She smiled and looked around the circle of faces, warmly illuminated by candlelight. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to remember which came first, the quilting or the friendships, they’re so closely intertwined in my memory. This week I hope to rekindle old friendships, make new ones, and return home with some new sewing