Quilter's Apprentice [Paperback]

Jennifer Chiaverini (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Plume / Penguin Books; Prepack edition (2000)
• ISBN-10: 0452157056
• ISBN-13: 978-0452157057
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,611,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #78 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Women's Fiction > Friendship

More About the Author

Jennifer Chiaverini lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to the sixteen volumes in the Elm Creek Quilts series and four books of quilt patterns inspired by the novels, she designs the Elm Creek Quilts fabric line from Red Rooster Fabrics. For more information about Jennifer, please visit her website at www.elmcreek.net .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cozy and Charming, January 7, 2003

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quilter's Apprentice (Elm Creek Quilts Series #1) (Paperback)

The first in the "Elm Creek Quilters" series, "The Quilter's Apprentice" is a sweet story about a naive young woman, Sarah, who relocates to a small Pennsylvanian town when her landscape architect husband gets a new job. As Matt works to restore the gardens and grounds at Elm Creek, a dilapidated old mansion, Sarah, struggling to find a job in her field, finds herself instead as paid helper to the mansion's acerbic owner, Mrs. Compson.

At first thorny and uncomfortable, the relationship between Mrs. Compson and Sarah slowly unfolds as the two women create a quilt--Sarah's first. The metaphor of the quilt's patches creating a whole, just as Mrs. Compson's snippets of stories create a picture of her life, is nothing new, and perhaps a bit awkwardly handled in this first novel. It is noticeable in dialogue that nobody in real life would speak--and of the coincidences that probably would never occur.

Nevertheless, this book is a keeper, and I look forward to the next in the series. I personally love quilts, although I have never quilted. I found the slow creation of the story's (and Sarah's) quilt fascinating, easy to read, and just simply charming.

This is not a fast-paced book, and it is not a work of literary genuis. It is simply a sweet, old-fashioned story, and--I am happy to say--it works.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Quilter's Apprentice, February 8, 2000

By 

Judi Kirby (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Quilter's Apprentice (Elm Creek Quilts Series #1) (Hardcover)

I quilt. I own a quilt shop. I also teach high school English. So my standards for what makes a good read are pretty high. Just because it's about quilting doesn't make it good. This story is really good. The characters are real, I have them as quilting friends, and as customers. I couldn't put it down and didn't want it to end. A good plot with nicely written flashbacks. Written by someone who really know quilting, women and friendships.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Learning quilt and so much more!, March 21, 2003

By 

Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Quilter's Apprentice (Elm Creek Quilts Series #1) (Paperback)

The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini is the first book in the Elm Creek Quilt series. Although I have never quilted and doubt I ever will, I found the suggestion to read this book a good one. In the tradition of Whitney Otto's book, How to Make an American Quilt and Sandra Dallas' book, The Persian Pickle Club, Jennifer Chiaverini combines a love and knowledge and quilting with the story of two memorable characters. Best part about this book is that there are several more in the series which I now look forward to reading.

Sarah McClure moves to a small town in Pennsylvania when her husband takes a new job. With no friends and no job, she agonizes over leaving her former life in a college town. While interviewing for jobs, she is offered a job helping an older woman cleaning and sorting through her now decased sisters home. When Sarah remarks about the beautiful quilts in the home, Sylvia Compson, who grew up in this home, offers to teach Sarah how to quilt. What happens as Sarah learns to quilt, makes friends with other quilters in the area and learns the story and history of Elm Creek ensues is a wonderful book in which the reader is captivated by these wonderful characters and the art of quilting.

Jennifer Chiaverini has a real gift in explaining quilting to those who know very little as well as presenting a most intriguing story. And as I continue to read this series, I might very well consider trying to become a quilter's apprentice. Only wish I could find somebody like Sylvia Compson to teach me how to quilt.