Patience was waiting just inside the door to the classroom when Harriet and Carla entered. She handed each of them a stapled handout.
"Please take out your hoop, quilting needle, thread, scissors and thimble and put everything else under your table. Do not touch the fabric sandwich you will find at your workspace."
Harriet and Carla looked at each other. Carla's face had a determined set to it, but Harriet just rolled her eyes and led the way back to their workstation, where they found the layered muslin fabric and batting Patience had referred to as a “sandwich."
"This looks promising,” Harriet said in a hushed tone. “I'm not sure why I'm whispering, though,” she added with a laugh.
"It's because that scarecrow at the door is so intimidating,” said a short plump woman at the table behind theirs. She was dressed from head to toe in pale-blue denim covered in machine embroidered motifs of puppies and kittens.
The woman glanced nervously back toward the door, checking to be sure she hadn't been heard. “I came here to learn how to stitch, not to be treated like a misbehaving schoolgirl."
"It's a small price to pay for being able to learn from one of the top experts in the field,” said the other woman at her table. Harriet hadn't noticed before lunch, but the second woman was wearing a dark skirt and white blouse that were very reminiscent of Selestina's. “Her work hangs in galleries and museums all over Europe."
Carla's eyes widened. Harriet could see she was impressed.
"Trust me,” she whispered. “There's nothing magic about having her work in Europe. They obviously have a longer preserved-textile history than we do in America, but their contemporary work is done by people just like us."
The disbelief was plain on Carla's face.
"Okay, so it's done by people like we will be when we finish taking all our classes,” Harriet said and grinned. She could see Carla was still skeptical. “I went to boarding school in London and Paris and a bunch of other places, and trust me-they all put their socks on one foot at a time, just like us."
"Please, take your seats,” Patience instructed them.
The room fell silent as everyone sat. Patience walked down the aisle, glancing at each table as she passed. She stopped at the second table on the right side of the aisle, picked up a ruler and marking pen from the surface and dropped them into the sewing bag underneath. There was a slight rustle as several other students removed items and stowed them in their sewing bags.
Patience took one last sweeping glance around the room and, satisfied that only the listed items were on each table, swept behind the curtain.
Selestina appeared within moments.
"Hand quilting is an art,” she began. “Although in recent centuries it has taken a back seat to elaborate piecing and embellishment techniques, hand quilting is very able to stand on its own. Down through the ages, many beautiful works of art have been created that are no more than careful stitching on a blank piece of cloth. Please hoop the fabric sandwich that is on your table."
Quilting hoops consist of two concentric rings with one fitting closely inside the other, like embroidery hoops. They are commonly made of wood, but can also be made of plastic or combinations of metal and plastic. The purpose of a hoop is to hold the quilt sandwich smooth and to better enable a stitcher to accomplish her task. The larger of the two rings is centered on the area of the quilt sandwich to be worked, the smaller is placed underneath and then the two rings are pushed together, one inside the other, trapping the quilt and pulling it taut.
Harriet quickly snapped the fabric sandwich into place in her wooden hoop then helped Carla center her fabric and set her hoop. Patience paced up and down the aisle, checking to see that all the students had accomplished the task. When she reached the back of the room, she gave a slight nod and Selestina began speaking again.
Selestina picked an elaborately decorated silver thimble from the tray on her table.
"There are many styles of thimble available in today's marketplace. They can be made of metal, plastic, leather, or…” She held up her silver thimble. “…finely wrought from silver. Which you choose will be based on your own preference. The most important features are fit and function. It must protect you from needle pricks, and it must fit snugly enough that it won't fall off your finger as you move your hand up and down.” She slid the little metal cup onto the tip of her second finger.
Patience gestured to the class. “Gather round the front table,” she ordered.
The students rose and did as instructed. Harriet and Carla only needed to step around their table, since they were already at the front of the room, so they were looking directly at Selestina when her hand began to shake. She tried to get up, only to fall back into her chair. She clutched her right hand over her chest.
Harriet was just in time to catch her as she started to slide to the floor. With her arms under Selestina's armpits, she kicked the chair out of the way and lowered the older woman to the floor.
"Call nine-one-one,” she yelled.
The class stood rooted where they stood.
"Where's your phone?” Carla answered.
"In the front pocket of my bag."
Carla pulled out the phone and dialed. In a clear firm voice, she relayed necessary information to the operator.
"Give me that quilt,” Harriet ordered, but the woman in denim had already started pulling the sample quilt from the display board.
"No,” Selestina moaned.
To her credit, the woman didn't stop. She tossed the quilt to Harriet; she covered Selestina, who was beginning to shiver. Patience folded up her jacket and started to put it under Selestina's head.
"Not under the head,” the woman in embroidered denim said as she approached. “Here.” She pushed Patience out of the way, put the folded jacked under Selestina's feet and tucked the quilt around her. “She's going into shock,” she announced. She grasped the teacher's wrist with professional-looking expertise between her thumb and fingers and glanced at her watch.
Harriet could hear sirens. “Come on, come on,” she whispered to herself. She wasn't sure what was wrong with Selestina, but the woman's skin was covered with a sheen of moisture, and she continued to shake. Her breathing was rapid, and a small trickle of spit slid from the corner of her mouth.
Everyone jumped when the door slammed open and the paramedics rushed in. Harriet stepped aside and guided Patience away from Selestina.
"Let them do their work,” she said.
Two young men in blue jumpsuits and a red-haired woman with pale freckles and crow's feet surrounded Selestina. The redhead spoke to the denim-clad lady, who identified herself as Dr. Jan Hayes.
The young men started IV fluids as a pair of firemen came in pushing a gurney. Dr. Hayes loosened Selestina's skirt and blouse, borrowed a stethoscope and listened to her chest. Harriet could tell by the expression on the doctor's face she didn't like what she heard.
"Let's go ahead and transport her,” she said and stepped back while the three paramedics collapsed the gurney next to Selestina and lifted her on to it, raising it back up in one fluid motion. Dr. Hayes trotted alongside as they wheeled out the door and disappeared.
Harriet and Carla were putting their tools back in their bags when Patience returned.
"What are you doing?” she demanded, looking around the room. Everyone was in the process of gathering their things. “Class will continue,” she said, her chin held high in defiance. “I'm sure Selestina would want class to continue.” But her chin quivered, and her face was unnaturally white.
"Maybe we could take a little break,” Harriet suggested, hoping they weren't about to see a repeat performance of the one that had just played out. She went around her table and gently grasped Patience's arm. “Why don't you sit for a minute, gather yourself? Isn't it about time for the scheduled coffee break? Carla here could get you something to drink.
"Okay, folks, let's go on ahead to coffee,” she added to the students, who were standing or sitting at their work tables. “Class will resume when we get back."
Carla stood up and nodded. “What can I bring you?” she asked. “Tea? Coffee?"
"A bit of tea would be nice,” Patience said, and sat in the chair Harriet had eased her toward.
Carla returned a few minutes later with a steaming cup of peppermint tea and a chocolate cake donut clasped in a paper napkin.
"Good job,” Harriet said quietly. The corner of Carla's mouth twitched up slightly in what might have been a smile.
Patience sipped the tea, and the color started to return to her cheeks. She took a big bite of the donut. When she had finished chewing, she wiped her mouth and set the pastry on the table.
"Thank you,” she said. “I think we can proceed. I know Selestina will expect me to continue with class until she returns.” She said it as if her boss had stepped out to the ladies room and would be coming right back. Harriet was pretty sure Selestina wasn't returning for the foreseeable future; but they were all here, and not having class wasn't going to do anything for anyone.
"I just heard what happened.” Mavis came up the aisle to the front table. She looked at Patience. “Can I do anything to help?"
Patience stood up. “No, thank you. I'll just put Selestina's tools away and get my sewing bag.” She put Selestina's thimble and scissors back on the tray, picked it up and disappeared behind the curtain.
"Are you okay?” Mavis asked Harriet. “And you?” She grasped Carla's hand.
"We're fine,” Harriet assured her. “I'm not sure the same can be said for Selestina."