Borrowed Book Review #2: Round Robin

I finished the second book (novel) in the Elm Creek Quilts series...I got it Friday, finished it last night. I couldn't put it down.....well, not literally, I had to read it between, schooling 5 kids, mushroom picking with my parents(found NONE!), fixing boo-boo's, church twice and choir practice on Sunday,.....and a "FEW" other things....but when I COULD pick it up, I couldn't put it down!   I LOVED it!

SO, here's my SEW cheap  but SEW good borrowed book review #2!

Round Robin

by: Jennifer Chiaverini

     "She chose green and blue for the colors of the 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 perserverance she tried to stitch it 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 week and the light hope of the future.  She wanted to believe in hope."

-----A round robin quilt is made by a group of friends who take turns making the different layers/parts of the quilt-----just as the friends of  Elm Creek Quilts decide to do as a surprise for their dear friend, Sylvia....

As each woman takes her turn at each layer of the round robin, we are taken deeper into their lives, adding their stories to the ever-changing history of Elm Creek Manor............Getting to follow each character through their heartaches, happiness, and growth, made me feel as if I was becomming part of the "Elm Creek Quilters" .  I actually felt as if my story would fit within these other ladies' stories and could see where my layer of the round robin would meld with the others..........

This book is a MUST read...after book one (The Quilter's Apprentice), of course!  I finished this book wishing I had borrowed the next book WITH it so I could start reading it right away!

Review: The Quilter's Apprentice

I'm not sure if I've mentioned, but I LOVE to read.  There just doesn't seem to have been enough time the past, oh, I don't know....FIFTEEN years!  This last year, however, some changes have happened which have allowed me to feel free to take up this beloved hobby again......

That being said....I AM cheap....so...I borrow my books from the library!  I live in Michigan, so I have this wonderful program called MEL-CAT (a STATE wide lending library!), so, if I can't find a book at MY library, I have almost all of Michigan's librarys to choose from....FOR FREE!!!!  SO....Without further Adieu....



The Quilter's Apprentice
A Novel
By:  Jennifer Chiaverini

This is the First in the Elm Creek Quilts Series.  In this book, we are introduced to the Characters: Sarah McClure, A young married woman, previously employed as an accountant, but now unemployed and searching for work in a new town, Matt McClure, Sarah's husband, a previously unemployed Landscape Architect, now employed in a college town called Waterford, Pennsylvania., and Sylvia Comstock, a wealthy, elderly widow who has returned to Waterford to settle the estate of her recently deceased, estranged sister.

As the story begins, we find Matt taking his wife, Sarah out to the grounds of Elm Creek Estates, where he has been contracted to do some major landscaping/repairs for Sylvia Comstock.  After a not-so-lovely first meeting with Mrs. Comstock, Sarah is asked back to the estate and offered employment with the somewhat harsh woman.  She accepts the job helping to clean/organize the beautiful estate and the story unfolds.

The story uses the talents of local quilters as well as the most talented quilter, Sylvia Comstock to tell the story of the Bergstrom family from it's roots in Germany till present time. The quilts/quilt blocks themselves tell stories as well.   The personalities of each of the characters are destinct and very picturable, as are the descriptions of the quilts and Elm Creek Manor.

 I couldn't stop reading this book, from beginning to end it was amazing!  Each character was believable, each story very viable.  The end of the book was CLEARLY just the beginning of more.... I can't wait to read the next book!

If you're interested in these books, you can go right to the source, the Jennifer Chiaverini's webpage!  You can become part of her "World" by joining the Reader's Circle.....She even has patterns for making the actual quilts made in some of the stories!