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.
Q & A with Robyn
Echols:
Q: What prompted you to write The Fourteenth Quilt?
Robyn: In 2012 I and two of
my friends decided to make baby quilts for the new mothers at church and lap
quilts for the residents of the nursing homes where one of those friends
performs each week. Shortly after we gave away thirteen lap quilts six days
before Christmas, we felt prompted to make one more. The fourteenth quilt ended
up taking quite a journey in the seven days between the time the decision to
make it arose and when it was delivered. After it was all over, I said to
myself, “Someone should write a book about this.” So, I did.
Q: Is the book only about this quilt at
Christmastime?
Robyn: No. The story actually
starts in the spring of the same year the fourteenth quilt was made. It
includes some of the quilting adventures, successes and disasters experienced
by the three quilters. If you are looking for a novel about highly accomplished
quilters whose work turns out museum quality every time, this isn’t it. At
times our quilting experiences are best described as a comedy of errors.
Q: What is the “young love” in the sub-title all
about?
Robyn: The daughter of one of the quilters fell in
love that year. The story of the young couple in the book is almost entirely
fictional. Only the scene where they crossed paths with the fourteenth quilt is
based on real events.
Q: Speaking of fictional, how much of the book
is based on real events and how much is made up?
Robyn: The scenes involving secondary characters and
barely mentioned characters are fictionalized. They are there to support the
overall plot of the book. All the names except for Archie the cat have been
changed to protect the guilty – er, the innocent. Most of the quilting experiences
of the three quilters along with the scene at church the Sunday before
Christmas are fictionalized versions of real events. In other words, who
could make this stuff up?
Q: Explain the references to blog posts at the
end of some of the chapters.
Robyn: I did not take a lot of photos to support this book. After all, I
had no idea it was a story worth retelling until the end. However, during the
time these events took place I took some pictures and wrote up some blog posts on
my personal blog. Because of the publication costs, I did not attempt to include
these images directly in the book. Instead, I chose to dedicate the month of
September 2015 to posting or reposting six articles or photo collections to
support the book on my Quilt Gateway blog (I took the name from the Gateway
Quilt Guild to which I belong). You can access them by going to http://quiltgateway.blogspot.com and searching through
the history for the month of September 2015.
Q: Do you plan to write more books about
quilters?
Although
I quite often touch on quilting in some of my stories, I have no plans at this
time to write a book primarily about quilters. Then again, I had no idea I
would write The Fourteenth Quilt until I lived the story.
At the bottom of the post I have added a bonus Q & A interview including pictures with the real woman behind "Sarah" in The Fourteenth Quilt.
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:
Purchase
Links:
Amazon | Barnes
& Noble
Questions
and Answers for Sarah in The Fourteenth Quilt:
The character Sarah in The Fourteenth Quilt is based on a
real person. Almost all of the story of the romance is fictional. However,
there was one scene in the book from the viewpoint of Lynn that is written
pretty much as the real “Lynn” experienced it. You will find a few more details
about it in the Quilt Gateway blog
post dated September 22, 2015 which you can see by clicking HERE.
As for the real person behind Sarah, here is the rest of the
story:
Question:
How did you and the man on whom the character Brian is based actually meet?
Sarah’s
answer: I
could give the quick easy answer, but he is a romantic and wanted me to tell
the longer version. I had ended a long relationship with my high school
sweetheart that same year, and my older sister encouraged me to set up an
online dating profile since I had never dated as an adult. The very first, and
only, date I went on was with "Brian". We went to a cafe and talked
until we ended up being asked to leave because they were closing. We've been
together ever since.
Question:
In the book you two planned a big wedding with all your family present and your
father walking you down the aisle. Did you ever have that wedding ceremony?
Sarah’s
answer:
It wasn't what I would call big, but it was beautiful. One of the most
emotional and beautiful moments of my life was my father walking me down that
aisle and giving me away. It was one of the rare times I've seen him shed tears
of joy.
Question: Did
“Brian” actually join the military?
Sarah’s
answer:
Yes he did. It can be a challenging life sometimes, but we are a proud military
family. He continues to impress with his impeccable record and has reached the
rank of Sergeant. His favorite award, as there have been a few, is probably
when he won Soldier of the Year in his battalion. Its an award given to the
soldier who can complete a land navigation course, vigorous physical standards,
a medical safety course, and display their knowledge of the Army to a board of
officers.
Question: What
are you doing these days?
Sarah’s
answer: We
bought a house and are fixing it up little by little. I spend my days learning
what it means to be a new mom to my baby boy. When I have the time I try to
teach myself how to use the sewing machine my mother bought me. When that
becomes a challenge and I need a break, I'll work on the very large blanket
I've been crocheting for my husband. I'm hoping that once my baby is big
enough, or perhaps when we move closer to family, I'll have time to volunteer
at the library again.
Question: Is
there anything else you would like to share with the readers of The
Fourteenth Quilt?
Sarah’s
answer:
My mother has been working on my wedding quilt since before she even knew I was
going to get married. At first I just wanted her to make me something pretty,
but she insisted it be perfect and just what I wanted. So we spent countless
hours looking at different fabrics. She named me after her favorite flower,
which became my favorite flower, and so we had to include them in the quilt.
What
she came up with was a beautiful quilt that I cannot wait to arrive. It’s even
more beautiful because I know she made it with love. She loves her son-in-law,
the man who secretly met with my parents to ask my father for his blessing
before proposing to me, and it shows in the quilt. I'm so proud of my mother
for making such a beautiful blanket, which took years to evolve into what it is
today. She was so excited to be finished with it she almost sent it to me
instead of putting it in the quilt show, but I insisted she enter it and I know
she had a great time.
In this sequel to The Calling, Sheriff Luke Atwell and his deputies face individual and collective challenges from outlaws, gunfighters, renegade Indians, card sharps, and a thieving medicine show in a Kansas town in the 1870’s. The personal lives of the lawmen also change and nature takes its destructive toll on the town and its residents. When a black neighbor’s family is attacked and the oldest son killed, the sheriff gets the help of federal law enforcement and they chase a band of marauding ex-Confederates out to undo the changes resulting from the Civil War.
Jim Hanley is a Human Resources professional, adjunct professor and short story writer, Jim has had over 70 stories appear in print and online publications.
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.
Robyn: The scenes involving secondary characters and
barely mentioned characters are fictionalized. They are there to support the
overall plot of the book. All the names except for Archie the cat have been
changed to protect the guilty – er, the innocent. Most of the quilting experiences
of the three quilters along with the scene at church the Sunday before
Christmas are fictionalized versions of real events. In other words, who
could make this stuff up?
Sarah’s
answer: We
bought a house and are fixing it up little by little. I spend my days learning
what it means to be a new mom to my baby boy. When I have the time I try to
teach myself how to use the sewing machine my mother bought me. When that
becomes a challenge and I need a break, I'll work on the very large blanket
I've been crocheting for my husband. I'm hoping that once my baby is big
enough, or perhaps when we move closer to family, I'll have time to volunteer
at the library again.
Sarah’s
answer:
My mother has been working on my wedding quilt since before she even knew I was
going to get married. At first I just wanted her to make me something pretty,
but she insisted it be perfect and just what I wanted. So we spent countless
hours looking at different fabrics. She named me after her favorite flower,
which became my favorite flower, and so we had to include them in the quilt.