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“Beauty had emerged from her mother’s fingertips, her nimble use of needle and bright-colored thread. Beauty had lain in what sort of stitch could marry two scraps on a quilt and what other stitch mirrored a rose or a thorn or the seeded center of a sunflower.”
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
“February gave way to March, with its bursting colors of a too-early spring. Such warm weather was a welcome contrast to the near freezes of the previous year, as if this newborn century was impatient to exhibit its glory and all the unforeseen changes it would bring. Alice’s heart expanded at the sight of white snowdrops in lieu of absent snow; the vivid purples of wild petunias, pincushion flowers, and irises laced with the varying hues of tulips; and the glorious flowering shrubs---azaleas and camellias---lighting up the shade, covered entirely in blossoms as if they nurtured blooms but no leaves. She had seen the prairie carpeted in wildflowers, but this display was unlike that wild one of nature, somehow singularly intimate and welcoming, whereas the prairie engulfed and dwarfed her. There is not one thing that humankind has done on earth that is equal to one square inch of this, she thought.”
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
“No, you can’t see your own twinkle. Not even when you are grown up.” Isn’t that the truth? she thought. “Only someone who loves you can see it. That’s the real magic.” She joggled Maggie”
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
“performed on them. The shirtwaist was becoming tight, not only at the waist”
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
“Now, do you want a poppy?”
“A poppy? Whatever for?”
“I’ve noticed it on your cards. Is it important?”
“Oh, the poppy. It’s quite a mixed symbol---a symbol of silence, you see. How strange. And yes, it is the symbol for the ball motif. It seems that women have grown tired of the silent, subservient role. So, they have taken that very symbol to flaunt the reversal of roles for this event.”
“Would you like to flaunt it?”
Constance froze for a moment. “I think not, Alice. I am choosing to remain silent, incognito. I don't wish to call attention to myself.” She waited while Alice seemed to puzzle over her answer.
“Perhaps all the more reason,” Alice said. “Your silence is chosen, not imposed.”
“But it would draw such attention. A bright red poppy?”
“Perhaps not. What if it were not bright red?”
“Not red?”
“There is a white poppy, with an almost black center. I noticed some once in the window of a florist in Chicago. I was mesmerized. I turned around and went in to see them. The florist was a bit outdone with me that I did not buy even one.” Alice laughed. “But it could have all sorts of meanings for you.”
“Yes, and what would those be?”
“You’ve already explained why the ladies chose it for their motif. But the white poppy with the black center would be even more meaningful. All the things you’ve said---I believe I remember this correctly---plus peace.”
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
“A poppy? Whatever for?”
“I’ve noticed it on your cards. Is it important?”
“Oh, the poppy. It’s quite a mixed symbol---a symbol of silence, you see. How strange. And yes, it is the symbol for the ball motif. It seems that women have grown tired of the silent, subservient role. So, they have taken that very symbol to flaunt the reversal of roles for this event.”
“Would you like to flaunt it?”
Constance froze for a moment. “I think not, Alice. I am choosing to remain silent, incognito. I don't wish to call attention to myself.” She waited while Alice seemed to puzzle over her answer.
“Perhaps all the more reason,” Alice said. “Your silence is chosen, not imposed.”
“But it would draw such attention. A bright red poppy?”
“Perhaps not. What if it were not bright red?”
“Not red?”
“There is a white poppy, with an almost black center. I noticed some once in the window of a florist in Chicago. I was mesmerized. I turned around and went in to see them. The florist was a bit outdone with me that I did not buy even one.” Alice laughed. “But it could have all sorts of meanings for you.”
“Yes, and what would those be?”
“You’ve already explained why the ladies chose it for their motif. But the white poppy with the black center would be even more meaningful. All the things you’ve said---I believe I remember this correctly---plus peace.”
― The Seamstress of New Orleans
Nicole’s 2025 Year in Books
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