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    The Christmas Quilt
    The Christmas Quilt
    The Christmas Quilt
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Christmas Quilt

    Written by Jennifer Chiaverini

    Narrated by Christina Moore

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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 Christmas quilt. Begun in seasonal fabrics and patterns, the quilt remains unfinished. Sylvia reveals that the handiwork spans several generations and a quartet of Bergstrom quilters -- her great aunt, her mother, her sister, and herself. As she examines the array of quilt blocks each family member contributed but never completed, memories of Christmases past emerge. At Elm Creek Manor, Christmas began as a celebration of simple virtues -- joy and hope buoyed by the spirit of giving. As each successive generation of Bergstroms lived through its unique trials -- the antebellum era, the Great Depression, World War II -- tradition offered sustenance even during the most difficult times. For Sylvia, who is coping with the modern problem of family dispersed, estranged, or even forgotten, reconciliation with her personal history may prove as elusive as piecing the Christmas Quilt. Elm Creek Manor is full of secrets, from a Christmas tree with unusual properties to the sublime Bergstrom strudel recipe. Sylvia's tales at first seem to inform her family legacy but ultimately illuminate far more, from the importance of women's art to its place in commemorating our shared experience, at Christmastime and in every season.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateNov 26, 2007
    ISBN9781428198807
    The Christmas Quilt
    Author

    Jennifer Chiaverini

    Jennifer Chiaverini is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-four novels, including critically acclaimed historical fiction and the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series. In 2020, she was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association for her novel Resistance Women. In 2023, the WLA awarded her the honor of Notable Wisconsin Author for her significant contributions to the state’s literary heritage. Chiaverini earned a BA from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in English Language and Literature from the University of Chicago. She, her husband, and their two sons call Madison, Wisconsin home.

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    Reviews for The Christmas Quilt

    3.5/5

    127 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this storyline of the quilt, family, traditions, and turmoil. A must read.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful story of how our ancestry can shape our future and how forgiveness and love can truly cover a multitude of sins.
    • 4/5
      This is a hard book to define by genre because it spans several in my opinion. It seems to be mostly about family and traditions--centering on the Bergstrom family and Christmas. They have many traditions: making apple strudel to give away to family friends (and having some for Christmas morning breakfast too); hiding the ruby and gold star tree-topper for the children to find with the finder getting a prize; the most recently married couple getting sent out to choose the Christmas tree; a Christmas quilt that's been worked on by several generations of the familyIt is somewhat regrettable that the author chose to name the two main women in the story with names that both started with S. Having not read the series prior to this book, I found it a bit hard to remember which woman was which. Years ago, Sylvia left her family homestead after losing her husband and baby daughter and younger brother--and after being told that her soon to be brother-in-law had hidden instead of helping her husband to save her brother--something she told her sister who refused to believe it. The rift between the sisters remained until after Claudia's death when Sylvia is left as the only heir to the family home.With Sarah's help, Sylvia transforms what's left of the family estate into a quilter's haven and retreat, but with the approaching holiday, they have no quilting classes booked. Sarah decides to decorate the manor which brings back many memories for Sylvia.But at the same time, Sylvia sees that Sarah may be heading down a path similar to the one she took so many years ago--a path she now regrets. So Sylvia encourages and then forces Sarah and Matt to go see Sarah's mother. Sarah rediscovers the Christmas quilt--still unfinished after all these years--and with a fresh eye, sets about to piece it out and get it finished. Agnes reunites the star tree topper with its family and reveals who took it all those years ago when Sylvia hid it, intending for Andrew to find it. Agnes also may have reunited Sylvia with a beloved cousin who moved to California (though that plot line is left open ended).
    • 4/5
      The Christmas Quilt This story starts out with Sylvia and Sarah and they have uncovered the Christmas Quilt that a relative had started and never finished.The story then goes back in time to when Sylvia was growing up and the economy got worse. Not only did her father have problems selling their horses but they had loans from the bank as did all the neighbors.When Eleanor, her mother finds out she made more strudel and passed it around to all the neighbors. She then went and cleaned out her closets to give the clothes to others who needed it more. The kids also collected toys to give to others-which is still done.Love the story of their Christmas pickle. Sad to hear of her mother's passing but nice to hear how they name the horses after her favorite quilt block. Loved all the talks of quilt blocks.The year Sylvia got her first ever sewing kit was precious. Love how the pickle was discovered and hearing about the tradition of decorating a tree outside.I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).
    • 2/5
      It is nice to read an easy book after the Time Traveler's Wife. I like the continuity of this series, though I hear Chiaverini claims it is not a series. I like to revisit the characters and see what they are up to. This book follows The Gentle Art of Domesticity a bit, because the stories recounts a lot of domestic scenes and highlights how simple activities in the domestic arena can make people happy. There is a lot of repetition of other stories in the series, however. The repetition does fit in, but gets a bit old.
    • 3/5
      Christmas Eve at Elm Creek Manor revives Sylvia Bergstrom Compson's memories of happier Bergstrom family Christmases, as well as the tragedy and conflict that drove her away from her family home for fifty years. Sylvia's memories are interspersed with plans for the current Christmas. Sylvia sees a parallel between her assistant, Sarah's, rocky relationship with her mother and Sylvia's own unresolved differences with her deceased sister, Claudia. Sylvia does her best to encourage Sarah to make peace with her mother before it's too late.While this is a heartwarming Christmas story, it doesn't seem to serve much purpose in this series. Although this was the eighth book published in the series, it falls chronologically much earlier – as best I can tell, between the first and second books. Sylvia's reminiscences felt like a rehash of the first book in the series. There wasn't much new information here, other than one new character who seems likely to reappear in future books in the series. I don't think it will spoil the series to read this one out of order, so I recommend saving it for a time when you're in the mood for a light holiday read.
    • 3/5
      Eighth in the Elm Creek Quilt series. Sylvia, Elm Creek grande dame and master quilter, prepares for Christmas with her young assistant, Sarah. Along the way she tells several stories of her childhood and young adult years. Charming, easy read.
    • 3/5
      A bit predictable and boring.
    • 4/5
      I love this series of books. BUT this one didn't hold my attention like the others. Probably because the only thing different was what actually happened to the Christmas star. If you have read the first Elm Creek novels most everything (almost) is explained in them & rehashed here.
    • 3/5
      Okay, I don't know. This was my least favorite of the series I've read so far. I didn't even want to finish it, but alas I did. I don't know, the whole thing was just, almost too sweet and too much of a happy ending and I saw it coming a mile away. It felt like too much fluff, even though all the books in this series tend to be that way, this was just too much so!
    • 5/5
      Not Sure if this was more about Grandma Gerdas Strudel or the Christmas Quilt But I love all things Christmas & I love Traditions & Quilting so this Story Touch me- I took notes while readng cause there is little nuggets in there you don't want to Forget