Rating: 
Summary: Life As a Quilt
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Life As a Quilt
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: A worthy successor to The Quilter's Apprentice
Review: Jennifer Chiaverini scores again with this beautiful follow-up to A Quilter's Apprentice. Elm Creek Quilts has successfully established its series of weeklong quilting retreats, and the quilters have settled into the pattern of teaching assignments, but in this book personal relationships are starting to unravel. Sylvia is determined to reunite Sarah and her mother. Sarah's husband Matt begins to regret what he sees as his and Sarah's dependency on Sylvia. Quilters from all over are coming to Elm Creek to escape and renew, while the Elm Creek Quilters are facing a multitude of personal problems. As the group pieces a round robin as a gift for Sylvia, we learn a little more about the strengths and challenges of all of the women who make up the group. Though at times predictable, the stories are touching, and well-told.
Rating: 
Summary: Lots of Potential, Falls a Bit Short
Review: Overall, it was nice to revisit the characters I met in The Quilter's Apprentice, but I found myself frustrated as I worked through the middle of the book. The chapters are set up so that each character (or pair of characters) gets her own chapter that tells her story. These stories are disjointed and almost totally separate from the broader plot of the Elm Creek Quilters. It's as if each character got her own "spinoff" short story. Each of these detours is forgotten once someone else's story is told. Each of these plots is resolved as an afterthought at the end of the book. This novel had lots of potential. The lead characters are so real and likeable. It makes every quilter wish she had friends like these (or thankful she does have them!). I found myself drawn toward the lead characters and their stories much more than the supporting cast. I also would have liked to hear more about the quilt camps they sponsored. It's every quilter's greatest fantasy to leave everything behind for a week!
Rating: 
Summary: A tale of two quilts
Review: Reading Round Robin, or any of the other quilting books by Jennifer Chiaverini, is the literary equivalent to being wrapped in a warm, broken star quilt on a cold winter's night.
"It was an act of courage to take the scraps life provided and stitch them together, wrestling the chaos into order, taking what had been cast off and creating something from it, something useful, beautiful, and strong, something whose true value was known only to the heart of the woman who made it."
Agnes thinks these words as she appliques the center block of the round robin quilt she and the other members of the Elm Creek Quilters are making for their quilt camp. In a round robin quilt, one woman makes the center block, and then others make the boarders to complement the center square. This book follows the journey of a group of friends as they work to complete a quilt for their mentor, Sylvia, to hang at the main entrance to the quilting camp they have developed together. Each of these women face everyday hardships along the way - dealing with their teenage sons, meeting a new half-sister, choosing the course of their career, and dealing with their estranged mothers. These experiences help guide their choices in their quilts, with them each choosing colors and patterns that represent their individual journeys as women. The book guides us through their experiences, and how both their lives and art become richer as a result of them. In the meantime, Sylvia is attempting to make a quilt of her own. To do so will require courage, strength, and perhaps a bit of love that she has been missing. This book is a wonderful follow-up to the Quilter's Apprentice. It makes the reader feel a part of this warm and caring group of friends, and experience their journeys. There is no need to quilt to enjoy these books - just a need to be able to appreciate the joy that comes through women's lives.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story, some lose ends
Review: Round Robin centers around the Elm Creek Quilters, friends who all live in the same town and who either own or teach at at the Elm Creek Quilt Camp. From the time they gather at Elm Creek Manor to watch a television show featuring their camp, Sylvia, Judy, Sarah, Agnes, Gwen, Summer, and Diane find their lives becoming more complicated. The group makes plans to complete a round robin quilt to present to Sylvia, the founder and Guiding force behind Elm Creek, but each woman is forced to confront the challanges and changes in their own lives. From damaged mother-child relationships, abandonment, dreams lost, angry teenagers, financial difficulties and shifting marital roles these women rely on each other for humor and support. This is wonderful story of the nurturing friendships women fashion throughout their lives. These ties are tested and tugged and strained and still manage to survive and sustain, enriching not only the friends but their families as well. I only wish this was a bit longer and the stories more complete. But this is part of a series and there is sure to be more to come. You don't need to be a quilter to appreciate this warm tale.
Rating:
Summary: A Story of Quilting and Friendship
Review: Round Robin is the second book in the Elm Creek Quilt series and a wonderful follow up to Ms. Chiaverini's her first book The Quilter's Apprentice. Both of these books left me with a desire to learn to quilt and an appreciation for my friendships, both in the present and past.
Along with her young friend Sarah and members of the Tangled Quilters, Sylvia Compson has turned her ancestral home, Elm Creek Manor, into a camp and school for quilters. While each member of this group work on a round robin quilt for Sylvia, each member of the group's past or present is explored. While some of the women's lives and dillemmas are more interesting than others, this book continues to delve into the past realtionshup between Sylvia and her sister in law, Agnes Emberly who is also a quilter.
This was a good read which was reminiscent of How to Make an American Quilt by Whitney Otto. In Round Robin, the author presents her readers with wonderful characters who I now feel are like friends. I look forward to reading the next title, Cross Country Quilters shortly, as well as the other books in this series. I do hope I enjoy the other books as much as the first two.
Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to read!
Review: The first quilting novel by Jennifer Chiaverini, The Quilter's Apprentice, showed a rather immature hand at writing. This second novel, a sequel to the first, is much improved! She found the "voice" of a writer and the characters are more complete--you almost feel as if you're there participating in the conversations and quilting alongside these ladies. Its style is much like "How to Make an American Quilt" in that it focuses on one character for a while, then another. A very enjoyable read! I can't wait to read the third and fourth novels!
Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story about friendship
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: About Quilts and Quilters
Review: This is a great follow up to Ms. Chiaverini's first book - Quilter's Apprentice - but it is also a book that can stand alone. There is enough background given that reading the first book isn't a necessity. But, having read both books, this one was like returning to Waterford, Pennsylvania to greet old friends. This book takes us deeper into the craft of quilting, and into the lives of the quilters. We learn the background on several family disputes and watch as the tangled threads straighten out and become a part of stronger, more fulfilling lives. We also watch as two very important and lovely quilts pass from hand to hand, with each quilter adding her own intricate and personal design, until they become the pride and joy of the Elm Creek Quilters. This is a book to wile away a quiet evening, a book that's hard to put down and one which, at least for me, will be hard to forget.
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