Read Online A Thread So Thin by Marie Bostwick - Free Book Online

that was considered acceptable for women. And I find the communal nature of it just fascinating. I can’t think of another studio art form that fosters such community participation in the creative process. Most artists create in solitude. For many, that solitude is an absolute requirement. So what makes quilting different? How and why did it evolve to become a communal art?
    “But,” she said, “you’re right. I can’t even think of tackling new research until I’ve finished this paper. However, I really am interested in knowing more about your relationships with the other women in your quilt circle. You truly think of them as family?”
    “I do. They care about me. Watch out for me. Put up with me. And when I need advice, they are the people I ask. Of course,” I laughed, “I usually get four different opinions, but somewhere in there I can usually find something that helps. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come home this weekend.”
    “You need advice?” The professor turned her head to look at me.
    I hesitated before answering. Professor Williams was my favorite teacher, but we didn’t know each other well. I wasn’t sure it was smart to tell her the truth about Garrett’s proposal. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure it was a smart idea to tell the quilt circle the truth, either. The last thing I wanted was to tip Abigail off about any potential engagement, and I didn’t want Evelyn to know either.
    Abigail is family, but when I need good, solid, unbiased advice, Evelyn is the one I turn to. Everybody in the Cobbled Court Quilt Circle is…well, a little frayed at the edges. I mean, nobody’s perfect. But Evelyn is a little more put together than the rest of us. Wiser, I guess. If she weren’t Garrett’s mother, she’d be the first person I’d ask for advice. But she is Garrett’s mother. And though we’ve never exactly spelled it out, there are some things Evelyn and I don’t talk about. No. Make that one thing. Garrett. We don’t talk about my relationship with Garrett. It would be pretty awkward if we did. There are just some things you don’t discuss with a guy’s mother. You know?
    So somehow I had to figure out how to ask Evelyn, Abigail, and the others if I should marry Garrett without actually asking if I should marry Garrett. My encounter with Zoe had shown me the hazards of a direct approach. Though I couldn’t imagine the others would be quite so rabid in their responses as Zoe had been.
    Maybe if I took a sort of poll of the opinions and experiences of a bunch of different women, I could find some nugget of truth that would tell me for sure if I should marry Garrett or not. But to get accurate, honest opinions I needed to take the emotion out of the equation. Which meant I had to take me out of the equation, look at this thing from a purely logical standpoint.
    “Yes,” I said, finally answering her question. “I need advice about a quilt. I’ve been thinking about making a new one, a studio piece, entirely from wrapping materials: tin foil, waxed paper, parchment, cellophane. That kind of thing. I need their advice about the actual sewing. It’ll be tricky.”
    This wasn’t a lie. I’d been experimenting, unsuccessfully, with substituting different kinds of papers for fabrics in my art quilts. I hoped Evelyn and the others might be able to give me some tips on how to do so. The professor didn’t have to know that wasn’t the only sort of guidance I was seeking.
    “Professor Williams…are you married?”
    Her eyebrows arched in surprise as her head swiveled toward me and her frizzy curls jumped, as if they, too, were startled by the question. “Me? No! Why would I want to do that? And why do you ask?”
    “Well…I, um…It’s for a painting I’m working on. A mural. Just in the planning stages now. Just an idea I’m exploring. A mural about the evolution of marriage. I mean, is marriage even relevant for women today? Seems to me that opinions about marriage are