Customer Reviews

The New Year's Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts Series #11)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sylvia Compson, master quilter and senior owner of Elm Creek manor, has married beau Andrew Cooper at their Christmas Eve party, to the gleeful surprise of their friends and associates. But the occasion is a bittersweet one because Andrew's two grown children, Amy and Bob, chose not to make the trip to Pennsylvania and so were not in attendance. Sylvia is fairly certain that Bob and his family, out in California, will welcome her new role in the Cooper clan. She is less sure about Amy's reaction, for Andrew's daughter was adamantly against the engagement from the beginning. The newlyweds plan to drive from central Pennsylvania to Hartford, Connecticut, to share their news with Amy and Daniel and the three grands and to celebrate the start of the new year. Will Amy accept Sylvia as her father's wife? And will she even want the New Year's Resolution quilt that Sylvia is bringing her?

A long drive is the perfect time for reflective thinking; and as the miles pass, Sylvia remembers notable New Year's Eves of the past, while she diligently works to finish the quilt on time. Her memories are woven into the blocks themselves: the year her cousin Elizabeth announced she was marrying Henry and moving to California; the anticipation leading up to her brother Richard's birth; the first Christmas and New Year's after her mother's death; the events that led up to Sylvia's final argument with her sister Claudia and her abandonment of the Bergstrom farm; and the day she got the news that Claudia had died and the estate was hers. Throughout the decades, quilts were always a part of her life. Now Sylvia is ready to share her personal history, in fabric, with her new step-daughter.

Ms. Chiaverini has given us a heart-warming and thought-provoking read that's much more than mere holiday fluff. To Elm Creek fans, Sylvia's memories fill in some of gaps of backstory that heretofore have gone unexplored. To newcomers to the series, these colorful threads of history will surely lead them to seek out some of the earlier books. And we can all benefit from the advice given by one of the characters here: "Anyone can make promises. The challenge is in following through." A Happy New Year, indeed.

There were many nice things about "The New Year's Quilt": beautifully realized settings, wonderful connection with life in the past, expertise in quilting with a gift for describing this wonderful art, a gentle and charming heroine. But there were frustrations too: a recapitulation of the plot events (though told now in the first person) of the first novel in the series, and an absence of believable story line in the present one. Sylvia Compson is remarrying after many years of widowhood. Her new husband, a widower, has a daughter who cannot accept her father's decision to marry. That in itself isn't unusual, but the reasons for Amy's opposition are not convincing, and the eventual resolution of this situation is too easy and sudden to be compelling. There are several loose ends as well, though they may be resolved in a later book.

I was disappointed that this book wasn't more satisfying--with all its good points, I had hoped for more.

The thing I really loved about the early Elm Creek Quilt novels was the wealth of different quilting characters, the way their lives interacted and how their quilting brought solace and inspiration. But it has now been a while since these books covered anything but the re-hashed story of the Bergstrom family. Jennifer - we have heard it all before. I for one am fed up with reading about it. There should be such a wealth of material in those women who help build the quilt camp with Sylia - why must these books constantly look backwards and then just into the history of one family?
This was a disappointment - I had hoped that we would be reading about Sylvia forming a new relationship with her step daughter through teaching her to quilt and winning her trust and friendship. Instead it was once again an indulgence by the author who seems fixated by this family she has invented and can't let go.

I have thouroughly enjoyed the previous books, but was extremely disappointed with this book. It is a rather short book anyway, and then the majority consisted of rehashed stories from other books. The impression I get is that the author had a deadline, and did not have enough new ideas (or time) to flesh out a new and interesting story. I would never have purchased this (particularly hardcover) if I had realized how little this had to offer. The only reason I give 2 stars instead of 1, is that I did read the book through - it wasn't bad enough to leave it unfinished. But I will certainly read reviews of her future novels before I consider buying another. If you have read her other books, you can safely skip this one, or at most check it out from the library.

I have read several of the books in this series but I was disappointed in this one. It was just a rehash of events and emotions from the earlier ones. It contained many "flashbacks" of events from the previous books.

An excellent continuation of the Elm Creek Quilts Novel series. The book was short and sweet. In fact, the only problem I had with the book was that it ended too soon.

Sylvia Compson and her new husband Andrew are on a mission. Their goal is to drive to the home of Andrew's daughter Amy and inform her that they are married. They are apprehensive about the trip because Amy has opposed their union in the past. While Sylvia travels, she is working on a quilt of New Year's memories which is to be a gift for Amy. As she works on each square, Sylvia remembers what the square represents and the reader is treated to flashbacks of her early life. Readers have been given some information about Sylvia's childhood, but this book fills in the blanks and gives more details about those early days. This is a welcome addition to the Elm Street Quilt series and it explains in some detail the people and incidents that have made Sylvia the person she has become.

What can I say..... Read these books, they are for anyone and everyone who loves a great series! The book is great as a stand alone or if you want to start reading the series. Warning, once you do you will be HOOKED! I never thought I would like to read about families in the late 1800's but I love how the author writes, she keeps your attention throughout the book, it is hard to put down and if you do you will be wanting more! The series ranges from the 1800's to the present and is all about quilters and their lives, along the way you may learn a suggestion or two about quilting! It is GREAT!

In Sept of 2007 I discovered the "The Quilter's Apprentice" in a used book store and became quite enchanted with the series and had acquired all the books to date before I read last 4. As a recent retiree I took up the challenge of learning to quilt and found a beginning class and have finished my first quilt for a grand baby. Sometimes I even find myself trapped in the fantasy and wish I could attend a summer class at Elm Creek Manor. Having said all this makes "New Year's Quilt" (and "The Christmas Quilt" for that matter) all the more disappointing for its rehashing of story lines. When other authors use recurring characters from one book to another, they will often refer to something that happened in the past in a passing comment or paragraph, not chapters and chapters from previous books just give the reader one new tidbit of information. When the new information comes at the end of this story, it reads as a summary of ideas not yet fleshed out as if someone had run out of time. Unfortunately the format of these 2 holiday quilt books reminds me of the 15 min daytime soaps my college roommate was addicted to in 60's--7 to 10 minutes of yesterday's episode before the new stuff, then to be repeated again tomorrow. I don't watch much TV so I don't know how many series other than LOST employee this technique of rehashing the previous story lines. As a reader, this kind of format turns off your fans and robs your new ones of the flesh and bones of the new parts. I feel cheated especially since I bought the other books in the series as new books. I have "The Quilter's Homecoming" left to read and hope I won't be disappointed.

Jennifer's books continue to inspire both quilters and non-quilters. Her books are full of historic facts combined with quilts and their heritage.