Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition
Waiting is the Hardest Part
As the narrator waits around for her daughter Dee to show up, we get to know a little about her and a lot about Dee and her other daughter Maggie (well, not everything—she never does get around to telling us what their zodiac signs are). We get the distinct impression that Dee is the kid who has always gotten everything she's wanted while Maggie is the underdog who never, ever wins. All of this info tells us a lot about the family and helps give meaning to the actions that later take place in the story.
Rising Action
Welcome Back… Wangero?
Dee shows up, and right off the bat, she's acting kind of weird: taking strange photos of her mother and sister, announcing that she's changed her name to Wangero, obsessing over a butter churn. The conflict here is a subtle one, but we might say that Dee's defensive and condescending manner creates an underlying tension that steadily builds toward the climax.
Climax
All is Fair in Love and Wars over Quilts
Dee wants to take the narrator's quilts, but the narrator tells her that she's already set them aside for Maggie. So what does Dee do? She throws a total fit, of course. The narrator ends up grabbing them from Dee and giving them to Maggie. This is a huge turning point because it disrupts the typical dynamic of the relationship among all three characters. Business will not be going on as usual in this family from now on, or at least that's what we're led to think.
Falling Action
Peace Out
The fireworks are over as Dee gets ready to leave, and though she does throw in a few nasty parting words to her mother and Maggie, the big drama of the day has basically ended. The narrator and Maggie watch her ride away.
Resolution
The Calm After the Storm
Good riddance. The narrator and Maggie don't let the ugly scene with Dee get in the way of their good time as they hang out in the yard together enjoying themselves.