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Summary
Summary
"She chose green and blue for the colors of Elm Creek Manor. She chose blue for truth and green for new beginnings....She pieced a border of pinwheel blocks -- pinwheels for her windblown life, which with faith and perseverance she tried to stitch into order. The pattern was a four patch, a square divided into four smaller squares, which were in turn divided into two equal triangles, one light, one dark, like the darkness of the past...and the light hope of the future."
In "Round Robin," the much-anticipated follow-up to "The Quilter's Apprentice," Jennifer Chiaverini reunites us with the Elm Creek Quilters in a continuing tale of friendship and loyalty in which quilting is a bountiful metaphor for the way we stitch our lives together, piece by imperfect piece.
A round robin quilt is created by sewing concentric patchwork or applique borders to a central block as it is passed around a circle of friends. We rejoin the Elm Creek Quilters as they embark on just such a project, intended as a gift to their beloved Sylvia. But for each member of the circle, the threads of happiness begin to unravel.
As each woman adds a bor
Author Notes
Jennifer Chiaverini is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago. She used to be a writing instructor at Penn State University and Edgewood College. She is the author of the Elm Creek Quilts series and four volumes of quilt patterns inspired by her novels. She is also the designer of the Elm Creek Quilts fabric lines from Red Rooster Fabrics. Among her most recent works, is the New York Times bestselling novel, Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker.
(Publisher Provided)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The Elm Street quilters return in this sequel to the popular The Quilter's Apprentice, and again a round-robin quilt is made collaboratively by a group of friends, each contributing a border of patchwork around a central block. The apt metaphor is used once more to share the individual stories and bonds of friendship of the club members. Sarah McClure helps her aging friend Sylvia Compson run a quilting school from Sylvia's large manor house in the small town of Waterford, Pa. The quilters decide to surprise Sylvia with a round robin, and in passing the work-in-progress to one another, their stories unfold. Sarah struggles with her cold and critical mother and with her husband's identity crisis, while overachiever Gwen must accept that her daughter wants to work at the quilt store rather than attend graduate school. Supermom Diane copes with her teenage son, a friendless delinquent whose troubles disappear as soon as the family puts a skateboard ramp in their backyard. Bonnie discovers that her husband is conducting a romance over the Internet. In the most complicated and most strained vignette, Judy, a Vietnamese-American professor of computer science, receives a letter from an American half-sister she never knew of, reporting that their biological father, who abandoned Judy and her mother in Vietnam, is dying. Rounding out the ensemble is Sylvia, whose health is deteriorating but who gleans new hope when an old flame visits. By the end of this sugary story, not only have the Elm Street ladies stitched a beautiful quilt, but they've also learned to rely on and help each other. The tale is neatly concluded on a tender if sentimental note: "true friends are the most precious gift." Agent, Maria Massie. 3-city author tour. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
The author of The Quilter's Apprentice (1999) returns with a second about Sarah McClure, Sylvia Compson, and the circle of female friends who work at the business they founded, Elm Creek Quilts. Located on an estate that Sylvia inherited in rural Waterford, Pennsylvania, Elm Creek Quilts offers quilting camp for beginners, rooms to rent for skilled quilters, and a handy excuse for multiple tales of family conflict, marital woes, and identity crises suffered by the various quilters as they work 'round robin' on a hanging for the entrance wall. Sarah doesn't get along with her mother, and she's fighting with her husband. Diane's older son is a social misfit. Bonnie's husband is on the verge of cheating. Gwen is horrified when her daughter rejects graduate school. It's all very predictable, and every problem is resolved with a maximum of sentiment. But Chiaverini spins a bunch of compelling yarns and expertly weaves them together. Old, old hat, but the potential audience is vast.
Library Journal Review
In this sequel to The Quilter's Apprentice, Chiaverini, a quilter herself, has pieced together an even more beautiful story. A tale of love, courage, friendship, hope, and determination, it concerns the Elm Creek Quilters some time after this group has become professionally viable. Still focusing on Sylvia Compson and Sarah McClure, the action includes others in the group who share friendship while dealing with individual problems involving their children and spouses. Sarah still faces her difficult relationship with her mother, while Sylvia must resolve issues of loneliness and illness before she can love again. The Round Robin quilt of the title serves to bind together the women of Elm Creek Manor, who finally learn that the fabric of life consists of many tiny stitches, sometimes poorly connected. Women readers in particular will be touched and charmed. Highly recommended.--Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
