Quilters
have flocked to Elm Creek Manor to learn from Master Quilter
Sylvia
Compson and her expert colleagues. There's Sarah, Sylvia's
onetime
apprentice who's paired her quilting accomplishments with a
mind for
running the business of Elm Creek Quilts; Agnes, who has a
gift for
appliqué; Gwen, who stitches innovative art quilts; Diane, a
whiz at
the technicalities of quick-piecing; and Bonnie, with her
encyclopedic
knowledge of folk art patterns. But with Judy and Summer,
two other
founding members of the Elm Creek Quilters, departing to
pursue other
opportunities, will the new teachers be able to fill in the gaps
created by the loss of their expertise -- and more
important, their
friendship?
"When I think of all the different paths I
could have
followed in my life, all the twists and turns that could
have led me
anywhere," muses incoming teacher Gretchen, "it's something of a
miracle that I ended up here, surrounded by loving
friends."
But
what of friends departed? As Sylvia contemplates a tribute
to the
partnership of the Elm Creek Quilters, she is reminded of a
traditional
quilt pattern whose curved pieces symbolize a journey.
Winding Ways, a
mosaic of overlapping circles and intertwining curves, would
capture
the spirit of their friendship at the moment of its
transformation.
Will
Sylvia's choice inspire the founding members to remember
that each is a
unique part of a magnificent whole? Will the newcomers find
ways to
contribute, and to earntheir place? The Winding Ways
Quilt
considers the complicated, often hidden meanings of presence and
absence, and what change can mean for those who have come to
rely upon
one another.
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