Round Robin (Elm Creek Quilts Series #2) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In a few months, spring would turn the land surrounding Elm Creek Manor into a green patchwork quilt of dark forested hills and lighter farmers'..." (more)
Key Phrases: round robin quilt, quilt campers, cornerstone patio, Elm Creek Manor, Elm Creek Quilters, Mary Beth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Elm [Creek] quilters return in this sequel to the popular The Quilter's Apprentice, and again a round-robin quilt is made collaboratively by a group of friends, each contributing a border of patchwork around a central block. The apt metaphor is used once more to share the individual stories and bonds of friendship of the club members. Sarah McClure helps her aging friend Sylvia Compson run a quilting school from Sylvia's large manor house in the small town of Waterford, Pa. The quilters decide to surprise Sylvia with a round robin, and in passing the work-in-progress to one another, their stories unfold. Sarah struggles with her cold and critical mother and with her husband's identity crisis, while overachiever Gwen must accept that her daughter wants to work at the quilt store rather than attend graduate school. Supermom Diane copes with her teenage son, a friendless delinquent whose troubles disappear as soon as the family puts a skateboard ramp in their backyard. Bonnie discovers that her husband is conducting a romance over the Internet. In the most complicated and most strained vignette, Judy, a Vietnamese-American professor of computer science, receives a letter from an American half-sister she never knew of, reporting that their biological father, who abandoned Judy and her mother in Vietnam, is dying. Rounding out the ensemble is Sylvia, whose health is deteriorating but who gleans new hope when an old flame visits. By the end of this sugary story, not only have the Elm [Creek] ladies stitched a beautiful quilt, but they've also learned to rely on and help each other. The tale is neatly concluded on a tender if sentimental note: "true friends are the most precious gift." Agent, Maria Massie. 3-city author tour. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In this sequel to The Quilter's Apprentice, Chiaverini, a quilter herself, has pieced together an even more beautiful story. A tale of love, courage, friendship, hope, and determination, it concerns the Elm Creek Quilters some time after this group has become professionally viable. Still focusing on Sylvia Compson and Sarah McClure, the action includes others in the group who share friendship while dealing with individual problems involving their children and spouses. Sarah still faces her difficult relationship with her mother, while Sylvia must resolve issues of loneliness and illness before she can love again. The Round Robin quilt of the title serves to bind together the women of Elm Creek Manor, who finally learn that the fabric of life consists of many tiny stitches, sometimes poorly connected. Women readers in particular will be touched and charmed. Highly recommended.
-Ellen R. Cohen, Rockville, MD
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Plume (April 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452282276
• ISBN-13: 978-0452282278
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #29,428 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This is item 2 in The Elm Creek Quilts Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful story about friendship, March 17, 2000

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Round Robin (Elm Creek Quilts Series #2) (Hardcover)

The small peaceful town of Waterford in Pennsylvania hosts the Elm Creek Quilters, a group of eight women dedicated to passing on their quilting skills to any interested person. The octet runs a quilting camp inside the Elm Creek Manor. The group makes it on national TV, starring in a segment of America's Back Roads.

Two participants, Sarah and Sylvia happen to be two generations apart, but have found a love and support neither one previously knew. Sylvia has known a life of pain and sorrow and desperately wants to spare Sarah from any suffering. She invites Sarah's estrange mother to the manor in hope of reconciling the two estranged family members. Though Sarah fails to open up, the seven other members adopt Carol. Their kindness alienates Sarah until a tragedy makes her realize how fragile and precious a strong relationship is.

The characters of ROUND ROBIN are memorable folks who enrich the story line in many ways. Jennifer Chiaverini has shown in a simple but beautiful plot that people need the support of loved ones to survive a crisis. The tale focuses on the human condition and offers up the hope that, no matter how bleak the situation is; good times are near as long as good friends stand by you. Similar in tone to Jan Karon, this novel is a spiritually uplifting reading experience that serves as the sequel to the wonderful THE QUILTER'S APPRENTICE.

Harriet Klausner

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Round Robin, May 1, 2000

By	Barb P (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Round Robin (Elm Creek Quilts Series #2) (Hardcover)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book --- even more than I enjoyed Quilter's Apprentice. Jennifer has a real talent for capturing the feelings that we quilters share about our work and our families. The story is similar to How To Make An American Quilt, in that it shares a little vignette about each of the lead characters and their lives.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to read about quilters and their special connection to each other.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Life As a Quilt, March 1, 2003

By	W. Carol "dog lover" - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

It's a metaphor that may be old, may be even trite, but in this simply lovely story, sequel to "The Quilter's Apprentice," it works. In this novel, we meet all our old friends, women of various ages and circumstances, who make up the Elm Creek Quilters, formed at the end of the last book.

As a surprise for matriarch Sylvia, whose mansion now houses a quilt camp for paying guests, her fellow Elm Creek Quilters decide to gift her with a round robin--a quilt of many designs and colors, each design personal to the woman who creates and sews it. As each woman works on her design, we are allowed into her most private life, and we see--instead of the fairly one-dimensional people we met in the last book--gifted, creative people with richly interwoven lives, just like the quilt. We are privy to their secrets, their sorrows and their joys as each of their quilt sections is created to mirror their most personal selves.

In the end, the quilt is a varied collection of interweaving but highly individual sections that--when sewn together--make an exquisite and unbreakable whole. Just like the women themselves and their strong and unbreakable friendship.

Like the creation of a quilt itself (which I have never done, but want to do more than ever, courtesy of this book and its predecessor), the story is told quietly, slowly, and in a methodical rhythm that should be boring--but is decidedly not. If you are looking for a fast-paced, hard-hitting story, this is not your book. But if you like a truly "good" book, in every sense of the word, with good old-fashioned values set in a 21st-century world, this is a treasure.

I am so glad to have discovered Jennifer Chiaverini and her joy of quilting, and I am so glad to be given the chance to share it with her, even though my quilting talents are nil. A beautiful, highly recommended book for young and old alike. Give it a try!