An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
This volume contains the first three novels in the series: The Quilter's Apprentice, Round Robin, and The Cross-Country Quilters. For anyone who enjoys quilts, quilting, and cozy fiction this will make for a peaceful afternoon. As someone who has read a lot about quilting, I found Chiaverini's desciptions of the process really well done. The first novel, The Quilter's Apprentice is the set up for everything that follows. It's pretty tame, and the main character's willingness to be trod upon by others and not speak her mind will likely drive you nuts, but if you just want some quiet escapism that revolves around learning to quilt and the healing that can occur when a group of women spend time together working to achieve a common goal, then you'll likely be able to put the frustrations of how civil everyone in the novel tries to be aside.The second novel, Round Robin is a good deal more interesting. It revolves around a round robin quilt, which consists of the assembled parts constructed by different members of a quilting group. There is a very nice juxtaposition here between whatever trials and tribulations one of the characters is facing and the final form that her section assumes. The story also resolves some of the more pragmatic concerns any reader will have about the logistics of operating the business known as Elm Creek Quilters. Likewise, it tackles mother-daughter issues that permeate the series on several levels. It's predictable, but sweet.The third story, The Cross-Country Quilters, is the story of a year in the life of four women who befriend each other at Quilt Camp. Each vows to tackle and conquer some major obstacle with which she is beset. The reward for this is that she may only then complete the block for a quilt that they will assemble at Quilt Camp the following summer. Chiaverini strives for a wide demographic and hopes that her characters stand in for Everywoman and the sorts of challenges faced by 20th- and 21st-century women (e.g., uninvolved divorced spouse, abandoment, abusive fiance of young daughter, trust issues, learning to live with MS, etc.). On the down side, however, the storylines are utterly predictable and as a consequence trite. On the positive, there is a good amount of quilting knowledge being shared--as this is the one thread (sorry, couldn't resist) that connects all the stories in this series.These stories certainly provide a peaceful and uncomplicated respite from a sometimes all-too-bustling world. If, however, you enjoy fiction with a bit more bite/complexity, this may not be the series for you. I found it helpful to take a break between each novel and go read two or three other books. If I'd had to have read all 721 pages straight through I'd have found them simply too saccharine. With breaks and read in intervals, however, one can enjoy the quilting bits.
I am a sewist. I sew quilts and clothes for babies and children, and also wedding quilts for my friends and other home decor sewing. It always relaxes me to go to the sewing machine and make something for someone else, like I can give the people who mean a lot to me a physical manifestation of that caring. However, I never found myself interested in a book about quilters or sewers that wasn't non-fiction. Till the Elm Creek Quilts series.Elm Creek Quilts is a fictional quilting and sewing retreat in rural Pennsyvania in the town of Waterford. For anyone who has ever wished they could just spend a quiet week or two in front of their sewing machine and not be bothered by kids, this series is a bit of wish fulfillment. It's like the perfect place where no one would ever bother you and you could work on whatever you wanted in blissfull quiet. For mothers out there, you know what I mean. This is an omnibus collection, which means more than one book compiled into one volume. In this case the first three books. The Quilter's Apprentice, Round Robin and The Cross Country Quilters. All three were very good and nice cozy reads. Nothing too complicated, but very truthful when it comes to the emotional lives of women. Especially as we grow and get hurt, hurt others, marry, have children, sometimes divore, sometimes become widows. The ties that bind us as women and hold us together through the bad times.Some wonderfully honest emotional scenes. Laughter, tears, it's all here!Great reading if you sew, but if you don't, I can honestly say you might find this series boring. I very much enjoyed this omnimbus and for me personally it's 4 stars, however... due to required familiarity with sewing and quilting terminalolgy and techniques, this means that many readers who would have enjoyed the series will feel like half of it is in code. So, I detracted a star for that.
What do You think about An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler (2003)?
I've read all Jennifer Chiaverini's books except Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker and am currently reading The Giving Quilt. I think I loved Sonoma Rose the best, as it's about my home area of Northern CA. Jennifer is a gifted writer, who has lots of insights into relationships, and the ins and outs of people and their problems. Each Novel has been very entertaining and as I've been to many of the places where they take place, seem very real.Thank you, Jennifer for sharing your talents and historic information with all of us. You don't have to be a quilter to enjoy these books, as they are not full of buzzwords that so many modern novels have that make one feel like you're reading a foreign language. I'm looking forward to more of her stories.
—Beverly
A co-worker loaned this book to me - the logic being, I make quilts, I will enjoy a book about quiltmakers.In this instance the logic was flawed. Yes I make quilts, but I don't live to make quilts and I don't want to read badly written books about people who are passionate about quilts. I'm not passionate about them, and I can't waste my time on bad writing.The book basically reads like a romance novel with much internal dialog and angst over fairly trivial problems.I can't really rate it because I only got about 50 pages into the 721 page tome before I realized it was not for me.
—Patti
