while she and Phoebe straightened the colorful coverlet to get a better look at its oddly shaped pieces. âWhat are these? Why did you cut the fabric skinny at one end and pointy at the other?â
Rosetta smiled. âThose are neckties that English men wear for dress-up,â she explained. âI cut them in half and then positioned them with the narrow end of one against the wider end of another one.â
âAnd then you sewed them onto long fabric panels and joined the panels with this bright blue fabric,â Laura said. âWhere did you get so many neckties? There must be dozens of them here, with so many colors and patterns my eyes donât know where to focus first!â
â Jah, it was a fun quilt to put together. I was still in my rumspringa, so Mamm allowed me to have a gut time with itâespecially since the ties didnât cost me a cent,â Rosetta went on. âSomebody English dropped bags of neckties into the thrift storeâs collection box and the lady who ran the place had no idea what to do with them all. She said they were so out of date, nobody would ever buy them.â
âI like it!â Phoebe declared.
âIâm glad youâre getting your pieces out and using them,â Laura said. âThese rooms will look really special with your quilts and embroidered pillowcasesâand who knows? Maybe some of the ladies who rent your apartments wonât have much bedding or furniture to bring with them.â
âI thought Iâd be ready to provide anything some of them might not have,â Rosetta replied with a nod.
âAnd maybe youâll want to use these, too.â Phoebe fetched the dark wooden plaques sheâd left in the other room. âWe found a whole bunch of them in the closet weâre cleaning out.â
Rosettaâs eyes widened. âKids mustâve made these while they were attending camp,â she speculated. âThink how much time it took to spell out the Lordâs Prayer with alphabet soup letters, and then glue on the words and the macaroni trim around the edges!â
âAnd this one is the Twenty-Third Psalm,â Laura said, holding another plaque so Rosetta could see it. âWe found plaques made with different colors of dried beans and corn, too.â
âPictures of chickens and roosters and flowers,â Phoebe elaborated, âalong with a really large one of the Last Supper.â
âAnd we found a big angel hanging that somebody crocheted with tiny white thread, but itâs got some brown spots. Mamm thought they might be water stains.â Lauraâs whole face lit up with her smile. âWe threw away a lot of dried-up glue and melted crayons and faded construction paper, but finding the plaques and pictures was even better than discovering some of the stuff in our attic when we were packing to move here.â
Rosetta smiled as she imagined the items the girls had described. âLetâs go downstairs and take a look at those pictures. Wouldnât it be fun to display them in some of the common rooms or hallways? Maybe we can soak that crocheted angel in some vinegar water to remove the stains.â
As the three of them left the room, Phoebe paused in the doorway for one last look at the necktie quilt. âI bet it took some nerve to get out the linens youâd made for when you got married, Aunt Rosetta,â she said softly. âIâm glad you showed them to us and explained about why youâve stayed a maidel . Iâve never believed you didnât have guys wanting to court youââ
âBut now that I know you chose not to marry,â Laura chimed in, âthe whole picture of your life makes more sense. Youâve been piecing your path together the way you wanted it, like you did with your unusual quilts.â
The whole picture of your life . . . piecing your path together ...
Rosetta hugged her niecesâ shoulders.