Four friends - Amanda, Molly, Jenny and Pheemie - live in a small town on the Olympic Peninsula in 1893. Their lives become much more interesting when elderly Mrs. Hankinson moves into an abandoned cottage by the ocean. The girls help Mrs. Hankinson fulfill her life-long dream of making a new quilt design called O the Red Rose Tree. The quilt requires seven non-bleeding shades of red fabric, expensive and hard to come by. The book details their adventures in acquiring the fabric and their growing friendship with Mrs. Hankinson and each other.

I read and enjoyed this book as a young teen in the 1970's. Unfortunately it didn't stand the test of time as a great book for me. Some of the situations felt a bit contrived, and the some of the behavior of the characters felt like the 1970's plunked down in the 1890's. It's still an enjoyable read though. My young teen daughter liked it and I'd recommend it to others. ( )