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Felicity nodded. “I wanted to try doing it while I talked to someone since you said it can make it easier to focus.”

“Can I see what you’ve got so far?”

“Of course! After seeing your work, I am more than willing to try anything you are able to suggest.” Then she turned to the other women they were sitting with. “Oh, the rest of you simply must see her work later! I’ve never seen anything like it before. It is truly amazing!”

“You’re overselling it. It’s just a hobby,” Amber flushed.

“Regardless of what you call it, you’re very skilled. You should give yourself more credit. You have more than earned it.”

Amber couldn’t help but smile. “Why don’t you just show me what you have so far, and we can go from there?”

Felicity eagerly handed over her sampler.

Amber had to resist the urge to wince. Felicity had warned her she struggled, but Amber hadn’t been expecting just how bad.

Her stitches were uneven, and there were visible patches of the fabric in areas that she clearly had moved on from. If Amber was honest, she wasn’t even entirely sure what exactly it was supposed to be.

“So?” Felicity asked, an eager look on her face. “What do you think?”

Amber hesitated. “I can see you must be trying.”

“You can just tell me what you really think. I won’t be offended. I promise.”

“Well…” Amber trailed off, trying to think of something nice to say. “It isn’t bad. It just needs a little more work.”

“Still? But I feel like I’ve been working on it forever!”

“And you have made tremendous progress. Like right here these leaves.”

“Those aren’t leaves.”

For a moment, Amber froze. “What?”

“They aren’t leaves.”

“But then what are they?”

“Wings. I was going to make a bird like you did.”

“I see.” Amber studied it more with this new information. “Where is its body?”

She shrugged. “I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“You haven’t gotten that far?”

She nodded.

“You didn’t do any kind of outline work?”

She shook her head. “No, why? Should I?”

“Yes, It’s how you know where to work. Can I ask why you didn’t?”

“That’s easy. It’s because I tend to change my mind about what I’m making, and that’s a lot harder to do if there’s an outline.”

“I see, and how often do you do that?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen her make what she originally said she was going to make,” another girl chimed in.