A Quilter's Holiday

Quilting with Friends the day after Thanksgiving!! What a concept!!! sounds wonderful!! to be with friends at a Quilters Retreat Setting!! good food and good fellowship and good quilting with Friends!!

As always this series is just plain fun reading even if you don't quilt. Both my daughter and I wait for each new book in the series. This one was great

I really enjoyed this book. I had written a review for another of the Elm Creek holiday books (The Chrismas Quilt) a few years ago, and realize I was a little harsh. I didn't like that book too much. But...I have totally reversed that opinion on this one. I love how background information (some of it review) was knit together with additional information giving us an even clearer picture of characters we have grown so familiar with. The way each character got her own chapter giving us her unique perspective was very enjoyable.

I am a faithful reader of the Elm Creek Quilt books. While different from each other, I have enjoyed them all and look forward to each installment. I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was a holiday themed book coming out this year and immediately picked it up. The setting is the Friday after Thanksgiving which is the "official" kickoff to the quilting season. As is their tradition, the quilters gather at Elm Creek manor to share their holiday leftovers in a pitch-in meal and to work on quilting projects for Christmas. The book is a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions so perfect to read close to Thanksgiving and will get the reader in the mood for Christmas and all its festivities. For me, this was the perfect holiday book. It's 278 (small) pages since the book itself is small but it packs quite a lot in. Many holiday books are just way too light and fluffy for me or they go the other way and make fun of the season which I don't particularly like. This was wonderful! There is substantial "stuff" that happens in the novel with the Elm Creek Quilter's stories advancing or finding out about past experiences but there were also some life lessons learned by the quilters as the experience the two days immediately following Thanksgiving. Ms. Chiaverini continues to be one of my favorite authors due to her ability to bring the characters to life and make me care about them all, even the ones that have traits I find irritating. If you are a fan of the series, please pick this up and snuggle in for a great read. If you haven't read any of them yet, it's strong enough to stand independently of the others, but I think you'll want to go back and catch up. I have recommended this series to several people, two of whom have taken me up on it and read them all -- and loved them too! Festive holiday read -- highly recommended.