Elm Creek Quilts

Master quilter Sylvia Compson comes across an heirloom quilt that muddles her heritage. She's always believed her ancestors were active in the Underground Railroad--but perhaps she's been mistaken.

While decorating Elm Creek Manor on Christmas Eve, Sarah McClure discovers an unfinished Christmas quilt. Only Sylvia Bergstrom Compson, the master quilter and matriarch of Elm Creek Manor, knows the story behind the quilt, revealing that it's the work of several generations of the Bergstrom family. Sarah suggests that they complete the quilt. Although reluctant at first, as they do so, Sylvia rediscovers the joy of the Christmas quilt.

Elizabeth Nelson leaves Pennsylvania with her new husband Henry for the 120-acre ranch they hold the deed to in California. Upon arriving, they discover that they've been bilked out of everything and are now penniless. While Henry takes a job as a farm hand for the owners of the ranch they thought was theirs, Elizabeth makes over a dilapidated cabin. It's only after she discovers quilts belonging to the property owners' mother that she begins to understand...

Chapters center on the circle's various members, with a focus on backstory. First-time readers are thus not left out in the cold as Judy and her husband, Steve, prepare to leave for new jobs and lives in Philadelphia; Summer begins grad school in Chicago while boyfriend Jeremy's graduate work keeps him near Elm Creek Manor; Sarah discovers she's expecting twins; Bonnie isn't sure she wants to reinvent the quilt shop destroyed by vandals; and newcomers...

For the Elm Creek Quilters, the day after Thanksgiving marks the start of the quilting season, a time to gather at Elm Creek Manor and spend the day stitching holiday gifts for loved ones. On this quilter's holiday, Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom has invited her friends to continue an old family tradition of sewing quilt blocks representing their thankfulness and gratitude. As each quilter explains the significance of her carefully chosen block,...

In 1862 Water's Ford, Pennsylvania, abolitionism is prevalent, even passionate, so the local men rally to answer Mr. Lincoln's call to arms. Thus the women of Elm Creek Valley's quilting bee are propelled into the unknown. Constance Wright, married to Abel, a skilled sharpshooter courageous enough to have ventured south to buy his wife's freedom from a Virginia plantation, knows well her husband's certainty that all people, enslaved and free, North...

As the nation grapples with the strictures of Prohibition, Rosa Barclay lives on a Southern California rye farm with her volatile husband, John, who has lately found another source of income far outside the federal purview. Mother to eight children, Rosa mourns the loss of four who succumbed to the mysterious wasting disease that is now afflicting young Ana and Miguel. Two daughters born of another father are in perfect health. When an act of violence...

Just weeks before Christmas, severe wintry weather damages the church hall hosting the Christmas Boutique--an annual sale of handcrafted gifts and baked goods that supports the county food pantry. Determined to save the fundraiser, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson offers to hold the event at Elm Creek Manor, her ancestral family estate and summertime home to Elm Creek Quilt Camp.