The Runaway Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts Series #4) [Paperback] Review

This was truly a book that I could not put down. It is the first of the Elm Creek books that I read and now I have purchased the rest to enjoy. The flow of the story was wonderful. And I easily moved between the days of Gerda and the modern day Sylvia.It is at once a mystery and a tale of adventure and romance.
Through Ms. Chiaverini's skillful writing, we feel equally at home in either the 19th or 21th centuries. So skillful and artistic are her desceiptions, that we, the readers are front and center with our two leading ladies at all times.
The cast of extras, from Hans and Andrew to Dorothea and Grace, all add to the rich tapestry that makes up this story.
Whether you are a quilter or not, this book puts us in touch with the past and reminds us to look back and see the fiber from which we are all made. If you are not a quilter, it certainly is an inspiration to try it out as a hobby
We are never quite sure of the answer to the questions in Sylvia's mind, but that does not matter.What we do know however, is that in her past were brave and daring people who stood for what was right in a time when so much was wrong.

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This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces (Kindle Edition) Review

A sensation from the moment it was first exhibited, since 1886 the Bible Quilt and its reprise, the Pictorial Quilt, made by Georgia native and former slave Harriet Powers has been featured in more than 150 news articles, books, poems and plays. It is thus both remarkable and embarrassing that not until Kyra Hicks's latest work has anyone bothered to verify the received wisdom about the woman who is arguably the world's best-known quilter.

Hicks's easy, conversational and very personal tone belies the painstaking care of her research. What apparently began as an annotated bibliography snowballed into an astonishingly detailed provenance which both documents the lives of key figures in the quilts' history and refutes commonly held, if perennially evolving, assumptions about Powers.

It soon becomes clear to the reader that from the first, everyone who saw Powers's Bible Quilt regarded it as not only unique, but a work of art - high praise given its abstract design, the status of quilts as homely craft, and the tenuous role of black women in turn-of-the-century rural Georgia. Among the visitors of both races crowding to see it at the 1886 Northeast Georgia Fair was Jennie Smith, a white art teacher at an Athens girls' school. Smith was so captivated she tracked down Powers and offered to buy the quilt. After three meetings in four years, she convinced Powers to sell, agreeing to supply the avid quilter with fabric scraps and granting her what can best be described as visitation rights to the quilt. Smith carefully recorded Powers's description of the quilt's subjects, and exhibited it at least once thereafter, identifying Powers as the maker. In 1969 Smith's executor donated the quilt to the Smithsonian, and again it became a sensation.

Other Powers admirers purchased or commissioned a variation now known as the Pictorial Quilt, presented to Charles Cuthbert Hall in 1898 probably when he became Union Theological Seminary's new president. For years Hall displayed it on the wall of his summer house, and even as a child, Hall's great-grandson knew the quilt was "a living thing, not meant to be on a bed, but meant to be art." Like the Bible Quilt, the Pictorial Quilt long remained in appreciative private hands; then in 1961, art collector Maxim Karolik acquired it on behalf of Boston's Museum of Fine Art, where it has been on display since 1975. (It is currently in storage while the MFA undergoes renovation.)

Hicks's tenacious pursuit of primary sources uncovered crucial details about Powers's life which future researchers cannot ignore. She also confirms suspicions that these were not Powers's only quilts. In fact, Powers appears to have been something of a competitor, winning at least one prize for another 1880s quilt. Powers herselfdescribes a fourth quilt's distinctive appearance; is it still hidden, unidentified, in some collection?
It is hard for any diligent researcher to resist sharing every tidbit we unearth; too often, every toy is our favorite. But this can distract rather than illuminate. The reader feels ungrateful complaining that Hicks sometimes provides *too much* information about peripheral characters; nevertheless it is hard not to wish that, for example, the thirteen pages on Karolik's life had instead been devoted to Powers's early years (rarely discussed in other sources) and careful descriptions of the quilts' materials and techniques, both of which Hicks seems to have omitted. But this is praising with faint damns. Hicks's main fault is modesty: she seems to view her book as supplemental when it should be the axis on which any reading on Powers revolves.

The author does yeoman's work viewing her subjects in historical context. A self-identified Christian familiar with Biblical iconography, she avoids the common pitfall of treating Powers's imagery as inscrutable and exotic, and she refrains from Rorschach-test psychologizing. While frankly confronting the patronizing racism of another era, she is also heroically "slow to wrath" (although the reader is baffled by her observation that "no African-American made quilts [were] included" in the groundbreaking 1971 Whitney quilt exhibition, as none of those quilts' makers appear to have been identified.)

Hicks might be amused that white vaudevillian and "Negro mimic" Lucine Finch, fabricator in 1914 of a grotesquely stereotyped "interview" with Powers (who had died four years before), appears to have been no respecter of persons regardless of race - even when she knew them personally. One review sneered that as Mother Goose in her friend's operetta, Finch "unfortunately trusted to her own capacity for making up things on the spur of the moment in preference to adhering to the lines of the part." Hicks's careful work marks a break with this kind of poetic license, and our appreciation of Powers is better for it.

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Product Description:
The powerful quilts of Harriet Powers (1837-1910), a former Athens, Georgia slave, continue to capture our imagination today. Her two-known creations, the Bible Quilt and the Pictorial Quilt, have independently survived since stitched more than a century ago. Over the years, thousands of museum visitors to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston have stood transfixed viewing her artwork.

Powers' two quilts are arguably the most well-known and cited coverings in American quilt history. But, until today, no one has told the entire, dramatic story of how these two quilts, one of which initially sold for $5, were coveted, cared for, and cherished for decades in private homes before emerging as priceless, national treasures.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces brings to light new, exciting facts - many never before published: complete exhibition history for both known quilts; proof Harriet Powers was a literate, award-winning quilter, who stitched at least five quilts and promoted her own artwork; profiles of the two nineteenth century women who sought to purchase the Bible Quilt; profiles of the three men who once owned the Pictorial Quilt; unveiling of a young artist who embellished the Pictorial Quilt; and the name of the person who first made the connection in the twentieth century that Harriet Powers stitched both quilts.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces is the most comprehensive resource guide on this influential African American quilter. The book includes nearly 200 bibliographic references, most annotative, including books, exhibition catalogs, newspapers, plays, poetry, interactive map and more. For the first time ever, readers are provided with clues and encouraged to search for Harriet Powers' lost 1882 Lord's Supper Quilt.

This I Accomplish: Harriet Powers' Bible Quilt and Other Pieces is written by Kyra E. Hicks, a quilter whose story quilts have appeared in over forty group exhibitions in places such as the Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, NY, the Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the American Folk Art Museum in NY. Hicks is the author of Black Threads: An African American Quilting Sourcebook and Martha Ann's Quilt for Queen Victoria. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

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The Christmas Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts Series #8) [Hardcover] Review

After five decades away from Elm Creek Manor, the estranged Sylvia Compson returned home too late make any amends with her deceased Bergstrom relatives.Now Christmas is coming, but the septuagenarian does not feel like celebrating her first Yuletide in her family home in fifty years.

Her quilting camp partner Sarah McClure and the youngster's spouse orchards gardener Matt plan to celebrate Yuletide at Elm Creek.Sarah feels some guilt that she is not going to visit her family, but believes the fault lies with her mother who overtly displays her loathing of Matt.Sarah persuades a reluctant Sylvia to go into the attic to look at the holiday ornaments where they find an unfinished Christmas quilt and the memories of the joys in spite of the Depression; the depression of loved ones dying during World War II, and much more.Sylvia regrets her stubbornness that is too late to mend fences and pleads with Sarah to square things with her mother.

Though fans of the Elm Creek Quilt series might be a bit confused as to the timing as this entry occurs before Sylvia marries Andrew (see last year's THE MASTER QUILTER), long time readers will enjoy the latest tale.The somewhat sugary story line contains a deep message that there is no time in life to hold grudges.Sarah is terrific as the attic mementos have her looking back on the joys, tragedies, and mistakes in her life.Though suited for those in the audience who have read most of the previous novels (memories will mean much more) because some newcomers might have some problems with what happened to whom, Jennifer Chiaverini provides a warm holiday tale that adds to the Elm Creek manor saga.

Harriet Klausner

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The New Year's Quilt (Elm Creek Quilts Series #11) [Hardcover] Review

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.

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Product Description:
At the close of THE QUILTER'S LEGACY, the Elm Creek Quilters were all in attendance on Christmas Eve, where they were surprised yet overjoyed to witness the wedding of Sylvia Bergstrom Compson, the Master Quilter, to her beloved Andrew Cooper.

THE NEW YEAR S QUILT tells the story of how the newlyweds celebrate their first holiday season as husband and wife. Not content to rest at home by the fire, they set out on a journey across the snow-covered fields of Pennsylvania.

Their destination is Connecticut, and the home of Andrew's daughter Amy. Unlike the Elm Creek Quilters, Amy has not offered her blessing to the union. Though her father has reminded her that marriage endures in sickness and in health, Amy fears that Andrew and Sylvia have passed the age where marriage remains a prudent choice.

Sylvia hopes to win over her new daughter-in-law through the lessons that quilting reveals about the bonds of love and family. As a gift for Amy, she undertakes a quilt titledNew Year s Reflections,whose blocks represent the holiday traditions of Elm Creek Manor. As she stitches the blocks, memories of a lifetime come flooding back, along with words of wisdom meant to celebrate the achievements of generations past and create hope for the future.

Just as Christmas and New Year's Day bookend the joys of the season, THE NEW YEAR S QUILT is the perfect holiday companion volume to THE CHRISTMAS QUILT.

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Amish Wall Quilts: 15 Brilliant and Beautiful Quilts (That Patchwork Place) [Paperback] Review

Rachel Pellman is a Mennonite dealer in amish quilts and she gives a very dutiful account of the Amish lifestyle as a n introduction.She then goes into the quilts breaking them up into geographic location and laying out the colour, piecework patterns and then quilting motifs for you to make an authentic Amish legacy wall-hanging quillt.
I have another one of Pellman's books and the big difference here is one of course the size, most are 47x47 inches and two the use of colour.Most of Pellman's books are black and white but this one is in full colour which is rather funny because once you see these quilts in colour you realise why the cheaper black and white can be used.But still seeing the colour spectrum as the Amish use it is very helpful and cannot be discounted.It's a good reference there just on the colour motifs and how to build or identify an Authentic Amish quilt (Center diamond should be in what colours and what quilting style for example).
Because everything is in the authentic mode, Pellman does not mention anything about machine piecing or quilting, but then you should have Hargreave's book, the definitive source, so you'll never have to care.The instructions are fine, I used them to make 2 quilts, but in the end it's rather plain being Amish all the time (remember no patterns :-).
Still it seems to be comprehensive and answer all of your questions except that I think it should have had some of the quilts as samples so we could see how the various pieces do fit together and look.It's a workmanlike book, not very inspired.

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Product Description:
Have you always loved the striking beauty of Amish quilts but couldn't find the time to make one? Unlike any other book out today, Amish Wall Quilts shows you how to make authentic replicas of Amish quilts on a reduced scale. Historian and quilter Rachel Thomas Pellman--a noted expert and author of many books on the Amish--shares her first-hand knowledge in this collection of glorious designs you can enjoy in today's modern settings.
· Choose from 15 projects that capture the stunning patterns and vibrant, solid colors historically used by the Amish
· Discover the distinct quiltmaking characteristics in three Amish communities, such as the free use of color in the Midwest and the emphasis on elaborate quilting in Lancaster County
· Learn fascinating details about Amish culture, language, dress, education, and the ways in which Amish women use quilting as a source of creative expression
Make your next quilt a vivid tribute to the true spirit of the Amish.

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The Aloha Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel [Hardcover] Review

Hawaii is about as far away from Pennsylvania as you can get.And in this book, that's exactly where Elm Creek quilter Bonnie Markham is headed.(Avid readers will recognize Bonnie as the one-time owner of the Grandma's Attic quilt shop, as well as being one of the founders of the Elm Creek quilt camps.)Bonnie and her husband Craig are in the middle of a contentious and stressful divorce.When Claire, Bonnie's old Penn State roommate, invites her to spend the winter on the island of Maui in order to help establish an Aloha Quilt Camp, Bonnie takes her up on the offer.Why not exchange a few months of Northeastern snow for a warm and sandy beach in Paradise?

Bonnie soon finds herself in the unique position of being perched in a vacation destination, where she is neither tourist nor resident.With her friends Claire and Eric, she explores some of the tropical landscape.But at the same time, she and Claire must hunker down and do all of the planning for creating a brand-new quilt camp, based in Claire's large, restored inn.Claire's savvy native assistant Midori introduces Bonnie to the intricacies of crafting Hawaiian-style quilts.Midori's nephew, Hinano, serves as a native guide and historical expert for Bonnie as well, even though the two of them often end up arguing about something.One question continues to linger throughout the storyline:Will Bonnie really return to Elm Creek Manor when her consultation duties are done?Or will she instead decide to relocate to Maui and teach full-time at the Aloha Quilt Camp?

The best fiction is enlightening as well as entertaining.Purists scoff whenever Ms. Chiaverini dares to move her plots away from the safe cocoon of Elm Creek Manor in central Pennsylvania, either geographically or historically.But that's exactly the way Life works.Rarely does a group of individuals remain static.Its members have obligations far and beyond their affiliations with one another.Following those threads away from the center gives these characters (and us) a chance to learn more about their personalities.It also helps us discover the various traditions of quilts in other places and at other times.Kudos to Ms. Chiaverini for once again providing another interesting insight into the universal heritage of intricate stitchery.

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Product Description:
Another season of Elm Creek Quilt Camp has come to a close, and Bonnie Markham faces a bleak and lonely winter ahead, with her quilt shop out of business and her divorce looming. A welcome escape comes when Claire, a beloved college friend, unexpectedly invites her to Maui to help launch an exciting new business: a quilter's retreat set at a bed and breakfast amid the vibrant colors and balmy breezes of the Hawaiian Islands. Soon Bonnie finds herself looking out on sparkling waters and banyan trees, planning quilting courses, and learning the history and intricacies of Hawaiian quilting, all the while helping Claire run the inn.
As Bonnie's adventure unfolds, it quickly becomes clear that Claire's new business isn't the only excitement in store for her. Her cheating, soon-to-be ex-husband decides he wants her stake in Elm Creek Quilts, which threatens not only her financial well-being but her dearest friendships as well. Luckily she has the artistic challenge of creating her own unique Hawaiian quilt pattern to distract her-and new friends like Hinano Paoa, owner of the Nä Mele Hawai‘i Music Shop, who introduces Bonnie to the fascinating traditions of Hawaiian culture and reminds her that love can be found when and where you least expect it.

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Classic Basket Quilts [Paperback] Review

Includes fully-drafted patterns for dozens of patchwork and applique basket blocks in both 6-inch and 12-inch sizes - Full of color photos, charts, diagrams, illustrations, templates, and great ideas

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Return to Elm Creek: More Quilt Projects Inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts Novels [Paperback] Review

I purchased this book because I had just finished reading the 8th. book in the Elm Creek Quilt series by Jennifer Chiaverini.
I wanted to have the patterns so I could make the quilts from the series. The pictures of the quilts are beautiful and the directions for making the quilts are excellent. Along with the picture of each quilt, Jennifer has given a short background about each quilt and how it fits into the plot of the stories in the series. In order to appreciate this book, you should read the Elm Creek Quilt series. Once you read the first book, you'll be hooked. I'm anxious to get started on my own Elm Creek Quilt.

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Product Description:
Join best-selling author Jennifer Chiaverini in creating quilts inspired by her best-selling Elm Creek Quilts novels.Quilters will get reacquainted with their favorite characters from the Elm Creek Quilts series while browsing through a dozen brand-new quilts.The 12 all-new quilt projects inspired by the series include three from the author's latest book, The Master Quilter.Every quilt tells a story of its own introducing both longtime fans and those just discovering the appeal of Elm Creek Quilts to new and familiar characters with each quilt pattern.-12 all-new quilt projects inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts novels, including 3 from Jennifer's latest book, The Master Quilter-Read about new and familiar characters with each quilt pattern-Projects for everyone - easy or more challenging, piecing or applique-Jennifer shares her insider's view of a cross-country book tour

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More Elm Creek Quilts: 30+ Traditional Blocks 11 Projects Favorite Character Sketches [Paperback] Review

I enjoyed looking at the quilt talked about in the Elm Creek Books. I love to quilt my try and make one from this book.

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Product Description:
11 timeless quilts inspired by the author's best-selling novels, with more than 30 blocks and favorite character sketches.

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Sylvia's Bridal Sampler from Elm Creek Quilts: The True Story Behind the Quilt - 140 Traditional Blocks [Paperback] Review

This book was certainly worth the wait as it is more than beauiful from cover to cover.I just got mine in the mail and could hardly wait to carry it back to my little retreat to enjoy. How I would love to say that I had created and personally made this entire quilt...and all by hand, never-the-less! It is a dream quilt in a book so expertly put together, a quilt I have often wondered what it would look like and how Sylvia would react to the creation made out of love my her quilter friends....after reading the books by Jennifer Chiaverini, and just letting my imagination get carried away with me. Tis so nice to still be able to dream and find dreams do come true...at least in the books created by Jennifer. Sure hope here story telling and quilting days are not over. I hunger for the next book to come off the press, and yes, have devoured the book "The Lost Quilter".

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Product Description:
Create your own authentic version of the bridal sampler quilt made for Sylvia Compson in the best-selling novel The Master Quilter.

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Elm Creek Quilts : Quilt Projects Inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts Novels [Paperback] Review

If you enjoy the Elm Creek Quilters series, and like to quilt, this book is fantastic. The quilts are beautiful! The book is very well written with clear and concise instructions, and beautifully photographed. I really like that the traceable templates are full size as well, a big plus. The excerpts provided for most of the quilts pull you right back in to the books that these quilts are based on. A wonderful series and wonderful quilting books! I really am enjoying this book and cant wait to get started.

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Product Description:
Create gorgeous quilts based on Jennifer Chiaverini's best-selling ElmCreek Quilt series! Here are 12 quilt projects from all four Elm Creekbooks, ranging from Sylvia's Broken Star and Sarah's Sampler to WhenHe Cooks Dinner and the Underground Railroad Quilt. Each quilt designis suitable for all skill levels and tells a wonderful story of itsown.

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