Elm Creek Quilts

A round robin quilt is created by sewing concentric patchwork or appliqu? 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 border to the central block, she contributes her story to the ongoing history of Elm Creek...

-- The Quilter's Apprentice, Alerted to the possibility that her family had ties to the slaveholding South, Sylvia scours her attic and finds three quilts and a memoir written by Gerda, the spinster sister of clan patriarch Hans Bergstrom. The memoir describes the founding of Elm Creek Manor and how, using quilts as markers, Hans, his wife, Anneke, and Gerda came to beckon fugitive slaves to safety within its walls. When a runaway named Joanna arrives...

The air of secrecy created when the Elm Creek quilters learn that Sylvia, one of their own, has planned her holiday wedding without their help, seems to infiltrate the close-knit group which soon feels the effects of all those little white lies.

When Christmas Eve comes to Elm Creek Manor, the tenor of the holiday is far from certain. Sylvia Bergstrom Compson, the Master Quilter, has her own reasons for preferring a quiet, even subdued, Christmas. Her young friend Sarah McClure, however, takes the opposite view and decides to deck the halls brightly. As she explores the trunks packed with Bergstrom family decorations that haven't been touched in more than fifty years, Sarah discovers a curious...

Newlyweds Elizabeth and Henry set out on a cross-country journey to the site of their new home only to discover that they have been the victims of fraud and are now penniless, which forces Henry to take a job as a ranch hand while Elizabeth begins a new quilt.

Judy prepares for a new job in Philadelphia, while Summer heads to graduate school in Chicago. Bonnie wonders whether she should rebuild her quilt shop, while Sarah learns she's going to have twins. And adding some intrigue, Gwen tries to determine the creator of a quilt found in a church basement.

Master quilter Sylvia Compson discovers a stash of letters in the attic of Elm Creek Manor and traces a tale back to 1859. An escaped slave, Joanna, spent a brief period at Elm Creek Farm until she was captured and returned to bondage, leaving her son in the care of the Bergstrom family. If Sylvia is to determine the fate of Joanna and her son, she must rely on one important clue-- the meticulous heirloom quilt Joanna stitched and left behind.

Another season of Elm Creek Quilt Camp has come to a close, and Bonnie Markham faces a bleak winter ahead with her quilt shop out of business and her divorce looming. Escape comes when a college friend invites her to Maui to help launch a quilter's retreat; there, Bonnie finds herself learning the history of Hawaiian quilting amid legal tussles with her soon-to-be-ex-husband, and also learning that love can be found when and where you least expect...

Meditating on the weddings she has attended in Elm Creek Manor throughout the years on the morning of her daughter, Caroline's wedding day, Sarah McClure evaluates the symbolic features on a painstakingly made wedding quilt designed to display the signatures of beloved guests.

When the creative residents of Elm Creek gather the week after Thanksgiving to work on quilts for Project Linus, they respond to Sylvia's provocative questions to alleviate respective personal challenges and learn helpful lessons about the strength of human connections.

Summer Sullivan, the youngest founding member of Elm Creek Quilts, has spent the last two years pursuing a master's degree in history at the University of Chicago. Her unexpected return home to the celebrated quilter's retreat is met with delight but also concern from her mother, Gwen; her best friend, Sarah; master quilter Sylvia; and her other colleagues--and rightly so. Stymied by writer's block, Summer hasn't finished her thesis, and she can't...