Snow—and a gentle fate—swirl around Elm Creek Manor as members of the Elm Creek Quilters gather for their annual day-after-Thanksgiving bee in A Quilter’s Holiday. This latest installment in the Elm Creek Quilts series by Midwestern writer Jennifer Chiaverini (The Lost Quilter, The Quilter’s Kitchen) picks up some loose threads from previous books in the series and is set the day after Thanksgiving. The women share their traditional meal of leftovers, and read aloud squares they have sewn with a message of gratitude. After dinner, they gather around a roaring fire, piecing patterns and styles that have historic as well as personal meaning (Friendship, Log Cabin, Nine-Patch, Double Wedding Ring), sewing together as quiet minds mull knotty family dilemmas and a few gentle spats break out between these old friends.
Sarah, quilter and wife of Elm Creek Manor groundskeeper Matt, is expecting twins as well as possible trouble in her marriage, feeling her husband has something he’s not telling her. Her fellow quilters face their own dilemmas. Diane mourns the loss of family holiday traditions—her teenage boys appear to be leaving the church as they leave for college. New Elm Creek Manor “quilt camp” teacher Gretchen ponders her infertility yet continues to discover new ways to connect with needy children, and Gwen deals with the death of an academic mentor and dear friend. Manor chef Anna discovers she’s in love with Gwen’s daughter’s boyfriend, wondering if his ardor for Summer just might be cooling. And Sylvia Bergstrom Compson Cooper, master quilter and mistress of the manor, conducts a genealogy quest to find long-lost relatives through clues contained in an heirloom quilt.
As the day unfolds and the flurries turn into a blizzard just as Diane decides to brave the storm to get back to her family, the quilters draw closer to the fire. Each plot twist and turn is sewn neatly together through the unbreakable bonds of family, friends and love, making this story as cozy as a Hallmark movie and perfect for the season.
