The Quilter's Legacy : An Elm Creek Quilts Novel

Rating:
Summary: Jennifer just keeps getting better with age!
Review: I finally got the book and couldnt put it down!
I was saving it for vacation; read it in two days! two days before vacation and had to go on vacation without a book!
I love to quilt and I love to read and this book series has filled both things I Love!! Cant wait for the next book in the series!!!awesome book!!

Rating:
Summary: Touching and thought-provoking
Review: I'm usually a mystery reader and seldom read family sagas or sentimental stories -- but since I'm a quilter, this series intrigued me. If you haven't yet gotten involved with the Elm Creek Quilters, do yourself a favor and buy all of them so you can start at the beginning with Quilter's Apprentice.

Until now, the second novel in the series was my favorite, but I agree with other reviewers that this one is the best yet.

The background on Sylvia's family of origin and early childhood are an interesting story in of themselves and add so much to the complex character Chiaverini has created in Sylvia Compson. The details about the Spanish flu are chilling and helped me put some of my own family's history into perspective, since my grandmother lost a newborn in that epidemic. The description of how it affected the Bergstrom family brought tears to my eyes as I pictured my grandparents' tragedy.

Although I loved the historic family saga most, the story of Sylvia and Andrew and Sylvia's search for her mother's quilts is interesting, too; and there is much food for thought in contemplating Sylvia and Andrew's December relationship and Andrew's family's less-than-supportive reaction. I'm sure we haven't heard the last word on that situation, and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Rating:
Summary: fascinating family saga
Review: In 1899, New York Eleanor Lockwood knew she had a bad heart from the Scarlet Fever she contracted as an infant and her parents did not expect her to live much longer. They both kept their distance and her only adult loving came from her nanny Amelia Langley who genuinely adored her charge. The Lockwoods hoped their family fortunes would be reversed when their elder daughter married a rich man's son who would pump money into the family business. Abigail had plans of her own and eloped with her father's rival leaving Eleanor to marry the jilted groom. Eleanor couldn't go through with it and eloped with Fred Bergstrom and went to live with him in his home at Elm Creek Manor in Pennsylvania.

Years later, Eleanor's daughter Sylvia is dismayed that her sister sold her mother's five beautiful quilts. One of the Elm Creek Quilters locates a website whose purpose is to reunite quilter and quilt. From the replies she gets on the Internet, Sylvia accompanied by her fiancée Andrew set off on an odyssey to find out the history of each of the quilts once they left the family.

Past and present are played out in alternating chapters so that readers get a feel for what Eleanor's life was like and how Sylvia reconnects with her mother who has been gone for more than half a century. Jennifer Chiaverini's fascinating family saga, rich in period detail and showcasing characters who though elderly continue to live life to the utmost. This is a superb novel in a heartwarming series.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Quilters and Non-Quilters Alike Will Love This Tale
Review: Jennifer Chiaverini's storytelling gift is surpassed only by her knowledge of the art of quilting. She ably entwines the craft with the lore in the sixth of a series beloved by fans of the Elm Creek Quilts series.

Sylvia Bergstrom Compton, director of the Elm Creek Manor, is preparing for her late-in-life wedding to her longtime friend, Andrew. She decides that, instead of making a new wedding quilt, she will use the beautiful masterpiece quilt pieced by her mother, Eleanor. Sylvia's mother died at age 30 and Sylvia barely remembers her, but she does remember the beautiful quilts that adorned the beds of her childhood home. She climbs to the attic of the Manor to rummage through crates and trunks and discovers to her dismay that not a single quilt remains. Sylvia left home at an early age and her sister had sold the valuable quilts decades earlier when the family fell on hard times.

Sylvia's younger Manor employees help her launch an Internet search. Through emails and phone calls, Sylvia learns of quilts in homes, museums and shops that match the descriptions of those she most vividly remembers from her childhood. Sylvia and Andrew set out on a nationwide tour in Andrew's motor home to follow the scraps of information.

THE QUILTER'S LEGACY chronicles the search for her mother's masterpiece quilts and, thus, the history of Eleanor's life in Manhattan and Pennsylvania at the turn of the 20th century. Sylvia learns that her mother defied her parent's Victorian dictum to marry to enhance the family fortune by eloping with the man she loves. The hardships and glories of the early years, from the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic to the sinking of the Titanic weigh upon Eleanor's family. Sylvia and Andrew ramble through museums, antiques and crafts stores from California to Iowa to Pennsylvania in search, not only of the quilts, but of her mother's past.

As Sylvia recovers some of the lost quilts and resigns herself to the loss of those that can never be found, she rejoices in discovering her own legacy. Women who quilt will revel in the detail and history of famous patterns and the stories they tell. For non-quilters, a door may be opened to tempt one to delve into this intriguing craft.

--- Reviewed by Roz Shea

Rating:
Summary: Return to Elm Creek Quilts
Review: Like a beautiful old quilt, this books builds bit by bit into a fascinating tapestry of family history. There are actually two stories, told in parallel fashion about Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her mother Eleanor. Sylvia is about to be married to her beau Andrew and before this momentous event, she has some unfinished business. She decides to look for five quilts which her mother Eleanor made when she was a young child. Her mother died when she was young, so she had never had time to get to know her well, but she wanted the quilts as her mother's legacy. Eleanor's story revolves around her delicate health and the difficult relationship she had with her critical, overbearing mother. Eleanor and her sister both defied their mother's wishes when choosing husbands, and her mother never forgave them for what she viewed as rebellion. These stories weave in and out as Sylvia pursues her mother's quilts and the end product is a very satisfying read. This book can stand alone, but it will probably make more sense, particularly with regard to the minor characters, if you read the other 4 books in the series first.

Rating:
Summary: Return to Elm Creek Quilts
Review: Like a beautiful old quilt, this books builds bit by bit into a fascinating tapestry of family history. There are actually two stories, told in parallel fashion about Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her mother Eleanor. Sylvia is about to be married to her beau Andrew and before this momentous event, she has some unfinished business. She decides to look for five quilts which her mother Eleanor made when she was a young child. Her mother died when she was young, so she had never had time to get to know her well, but she wanted the quilts as her mother's legacy. Eleanor's story revolves around her delicate health and the difficult relationship she had with her critical, overbearing mother. Eleanor and her sister both defied their mother's wishes when choosing husbands, and her mother never forgave them for what she viewed as rebellion. These stories weave in and out as Sylvia pursues her mother's quilts and the end product is a very satisfying read. This book can stand alone, but it will probably make more sense, particularly with regard to the minor characters, if you read the other 4 books in the series first.

Rating:
Summary: The legacy of a quilting family
Review: Sylvia Compson, the owner of Elm Creek Quilts, is anticipating remarrying a man from her childhood. Sarah her good friend suggests making a wedding quilt for her but Sylvia has a better idea. She's going to look through the attic in her family home and try to find the quilts her mother made over 50 years ago. The book now becomes two paralleling stories with part of the story taking place at the turn of the century in New York State and the other part taking place in present day Pennsylvania.

As we go back in time we learn about Sylvia's mother Eleanor and her family. We also learn the reasons and occasions why Eleanor made the quilts that Sylvia is looking. On her part Sylvia is helped by some of he coworkers using both the Internet and also visiting locations where the quilts were last seen. But the storyline I most enjoyed was about Eleanor's nanny, Amelia, and her role in the rise of the suffragette and union movement and her role in purchasing one of Eleanor's quilts when it was being sold.

This is the 5th book in the Elm Creek Quilts books and almost every book touches on some history of the Compson Bergstrom family in the past along with a modern day tale. While I have enjoyed these books and the paralleling stories, this time I enjoyed Eleanor's story much more than the present day story which concerned itself with Sylvia's marriage to a widower and the disapproval of his children. Now I look forward to the 6th book, The Master Quilter, and the new book coming out in the spring.

Rating:
Summary: Surpasses the others in the series
Review: The Quilter's Legacy is the touching story of Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her dedicated search for her mother's quilts. The story winds around Elm Creek Manor, then and now. The story is as gentle and intricate as the fins quilting stitches used by Eleanor Bergstrom herself.

Never predictable, always suspenseful as to what we will find at each stop along the way, this book is for anyone who has an interest in family, legacies or quilts.

By now we know all the Elm Creek regulars, Summer, Sarah, Matthew and Andrew. The author sweetly addresses the marriage of Sylvia and Andrew as she wakes up in the arms of her new husband, showing that love is for all, not just the young.

The description of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 was spot on and timely in view of the times we are living in. Of course, that particluar flu won't hit us again, but it is a strong reminder of the transitory lives we all lead.

I only wish that we saw more resolution in the situation with Andrew and his children. But perhaps that story is yet to tell. My only fault was that Jennifer has the date wrong for the sailing of Titanic. She sailed from Southampton on April 10th, 1912, not the 12th.

With rich descrptions, and warm characters playing against a cross section of America, I can only compare this book to the experience of snuggling under a cozy quilt while eating warm cookies with ice cold milk. Pure bliss.

Rating:
Summary: Surpasses the others in the series
Review: The Quilter's Legacy is the touching story of Sylvia Bergstrom Compson and her dedicated search for her mother's quilts. The story winds around Elm Creek Manor, then and now. The story is as gentle and intricate as the fins quilting stitches used by Eleanor Bergstrom herself.

Never predictable, always suspenseful as to what we will find at each stop along the way, this book is for anyone who has an interest in family, legacies or quilts.

By now we know all the Elm Creek regulars, Summer, Sarah, Matthew and Andrew. The author sweetly addresses the marriage of Sylvia and Andrew as she wakes up in the arms of her new husband, showing that love is for all, not just the young.

The description of the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 was spot on and timely in view of the times we are living in. Of course, that particluar flu won't hit us again, but it is a strong reminder of the transitory lives we all lead.

I only wish that we saw more resolution in the situation with Andrew and his children. But perhaps that story is yet to tell. My only fault was that Jennifer has the date wrong for the sailing of Titanic. She sailed from Southampton on April 10th, 1912, not the 12th.

With rich descrptions, and warm characters playing against a cross section of America, I can only compare this book to the experience of snuggling under a cozy quilt while eating warm cookies with ice cold milk. Pure bliss.

Rating:
Summary: Want more!!!!!
Review: Very quick read but now waiting to see what happens next. The character have become friends thru these books, or family. Hopefully those of us with QUILTS from another generation will now look at them differently!