Maybelline in Stitches
April 12th, 2014. Filed under: This & That.Maybelline in Stitches
By Joyce Magnin
Quilts tell stories of love and loss, hope and faith, tradition and new beginnings. The Quilts of Love series focuses on the women who quilted all of these things into their family histories. A new book releases each month and features contemporary and historical romances as well as women’s fiction and the occasional light mystery. You will be drawn into the endearing characters of this series and be touched by their stories.
Maybelle Kazinzki can’t sew. She was after all, the only girl in the seventh grade Home Economics class to sew the zipper in the neck hole of the A-Line dress they were supposed to make. But when she finds an unfinished quilt in the attic of her mother’s house she gets the crazy idea to finish it—somehow, come heck or high water. She thinks it will help fill the lonely nights while her husband, Holden, is serving overseas during World War II.
Her recently departed mother’s quilt is made from scraps of material Maybelle traces back to her mother’s childhood, her grandmother’s childhood and her own childhood. She tries to add one of Holden’s stripes to it but the sewing is not going well and neither is her life. After receiving some harsh news, Maybelle’s faith falters and she puts the quilt away and stops trusting God. But God is faithful—no matter what. And it’ll take a group of neighborhood women armed with quilting needles to help Maybelle believe that.
ISLAND BREEZES
Maybelle and Doris were welders at the shipyard while waiting on their husbands to come home from WWII. Living near each other helped keep these best friends sane during the war.
After Maybelle’s mother died, she found a quilt her mother had started. Maybelle couldn’t sew a stitch, but decided she wanted to finish the quilt. She and Doris thought it would be a good way to pass the time.
It turned into a regular gathering of co-workers and friends as they began incorporating bits of fabric that had special meaning for them. The quilt took on a life of it’s own.
When Maybelle gets word that her husband is MIA, it became her life line. Maybelle never gave up hope.
The wartime adventures and life style will make you stop and think about all the blessings we have today.
Thank you, Ms Magnin, for giving us a look into the past.
***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***
Joyce Magnin is the author of the Bright’s Pond novels, including the award-winning The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow. A member of the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Fellowship, Joyce is a frequent workshop leader and the organizer of the StoryCrafters fiction group. She lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Learn more about Joyce at: http://joycemagnin.blogspot.com.