Round Robin: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel
   Jennifer Chiaverini
  2000 Simon & Schuster, NY USA
   ISBN: 068486892X


A round robin quilt is created by sewing patchwork to a central block as it is passed around a circle of friends. As The Elm Creek Quilters embark on a gift to their beloved founder, the threads of their happiness begin to unravel.

As this book opens Sarah & Sylvia, Gwen & Summer, Bonnie & Diane, Judy & Emily gather to watch a news magazine clip in which they've been interviewed & each woman sees in the short video something different.

As each woman adds her efforts to their Round Robin Quilt, she also adds her story to the history of Elm Creek Manor in rural Pennsylvania. In the vibrant greens, blues & golds of their chosen fabrics, the quilt is a symbol of their multi-layered & inter-stitched lives that unify mothers with daughters, sisters with friends.

They stitch together through the seasons, sometimes in harmony & sometimes in discord; unspoken resentments & expectations keep them isolated even as their stitches tie them closer. They also run a quilters camp & a quilting store - their lives are deeply & lovingly invested in this venerable & beloved craft.

The Elm Creek Quilters learn that friendship is a most precious gift, as fragile as a thread & as enduring as the patchworks that grow beneath their fingers & that even in the saddest of times, love will show the way home to the heart.

A lovely womanly read! Reminded me so much of my hours with my quilting sisters, through bright autumn light & chilly dank winter. Sometimes outside on a beach in spring & sometimes in a summer meadow - we stitched & talked, cried & laughed as our quilts evolved into things of beauty & our friendships into lifelong relationships.

A well designed novel of emotions & choices, friendships & disappointments; of generations, fears & of finding one's path.

Jennifer Chiaverini's other offering is The Quilter's Apprentice
(01/07/01)

Rebecca