Circle of Quilters

I am not a quilter. I tried the first book in this series because I tend to get eyestrain and was searching my local library's collection of audio books for something that might be interesting. It was. Now I have a few paperbacks from the series for my own.

The chapters that introduce us to the candidates for the two openings at Elm Creek Quilt Camp give us sketches of what kind of people they are and what leads them to apply for the positions. Those chapters also cover the struggle for respect for traditional women's work as well as the struggle between career and home.

Maggie Flynn's rescue of a beautiful antique quilt changes her life, helped by the quilters at the nursing home where she works. Ms. Chiaverini sneaks in a lesson about show more the danger of profits-over-people thinking in healthcare while she's at it. Because my love of history comes from my interest in people, I loved why Maggie cared about the woman who sewed that beloved quilt.

Nate, the husband of candidate two, Karen Wise, annoyed me. He's not a total pre-Women's Lib husband, but he has a way to go. Karen's interview was the laugh-and-wince variety.

Like Maggie, Anna Del Maso already has a career. She also has a dream, a dream better than the boyfriend who is an obvious mismatch to the reader. Will Anna figure that out? (His reaction to a fancy home-cooked meal she makes for him made me think wistfully of garbage disposals.)

Russell McIntyre is no Nate or Gordon. He was a loving and supportive husband and stepfather who lost wife to cancer. For him, quilting starts with sewing together the last quilt his beloved designed. Russ moves on to designing his own quilts. I can identify with his problems with being a male quilter in a female quilter world. I still remember what it was like growing up hearing Gee, I never met a GIRL comic book/science fiction fan before. He's lucky that he has the internet to help him discover he's not the only one.

Gretchen Hartley was my favorite candidate. Her Gordon is a "friend" named Heidi. Gretchen should listen to what her husband, Joe, has to say about Heidi. He may not have known Heidi as long as Gretchen has, but he knows her much better.

Not all of the candidates can win one of those coveted positions, but even those who don't get hired are left better off than before. This series reminds me of my loved cozy mystery series -- without the murders. Can't say that I miss that part. show less

In line with the series - no jumping through time which I appreciate. What I did not appreciate was the continued lack of non hetero cis women quilters (one cis hetero male was introduced) and the women remain weak and meek. This many books into the series I hoped for more evolution of character.

Elm Creek Quilts has openings for two new teachers since two of its founders will soon be leaving for other pursuits. Who will join their [Circle of Quilters]? Five candidates have been selected to interview for the positions. Readers meet each of them in turn as Chiaverini tells the stories of their lives and how they became quilters. I liked some of the candidates better than others, and I could sympathize with the Elm Creek Quilters as they weighed the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate and made their final selections.

One fun aspect of the book is that each interviewee encounters one of the others at the interview, and readers get to experience the encounters from each participant's perspective. Chiaverini used a multiple show more perspective technique in The Master Quilter and I didn't care for it in that book. It worked for me this time, probably because the encounters were brief and thus the book didn't involve a lot of repetition.

Readers new to the series shouldn't start with this one. The Elm Creek Quilters make only short appearances without much introduction in each of the first five sections, so readers will need some familiarity with their personalities and the group dynamics from earlier books in the series.

The book ended with some unresolved situations, and I expect the stories will continue in subsequent books in the series. If I keep reading the series in publication order, it looks like I've got a couple more books to read before getting to the continuation of events from this book. Do I skip ahead to the next book chronologically, or do I stick with publication order? I've got a decision to make! show less

It's been a long time since I read the previous installment in this series. In this installment, they will be replacing two instructors for the quilt camp at Elm Creek Manor. Each chapter until toward the end focuses on one of the candidates and his/her background and interview/experience at the manor. Each one brought something different to the table. One of the Elm Creek quilters was critical of everything and everyone. There was one person who was outside the interview room but "struggling" on a block and asking for advice. Most candidates did offer to help. Others saw other needs at the manor as well--a need that could be met by the skills of one candidate. It will be interesting to see what the outcome of this book brings to the show more future books in the series, although I'm sure I will miss some of those departing. show less

This is the ninth book in the Elm Creek Quilts Series (number 11 will be published next month). I read some of the earlier ones a few years back – easy, enjoyable reads, with interesting quilting-based storylines. I’ve attempted quilting and have great admiration for those who can do it. You don’t need to have read all of the previous books in the series to enjoy this one, although it helps to have read at least the first couple so one is familiar with Elm Creek Quilt Camp and its staff.

In this book, two of the original Elm Creek quilters are leaving, and the staff is looking for their replacements. They interview five people, whose paths cross before or after their respective interviews, and whose back-stories are also told. show more Chiaverini does a good job in making you care about these five people, and I found myself rooting for all of them to get the job, but was not too surprised about the two who were ultimately selected (and what happened to the others was also rather predictable). One of the applicants lives in Seattle, and I found most of the references to be accurate (except for the best friends who come “up from Olympia” to visit this applicant). Some of the female applicants need to learn to do a better job standing up for themselves with their (respectively) incredibly unsupportive husband/boyfriend/boss “friend.”

The narrator, actress Christina Moore, has recorded over 100 audiobooks, and it shows. She did an excellent job giving the many characters different voices. I particularly enjoyed her interpretation of Diane with a (to me) New England accent (Elm Creek Quilt Camp is in central Pennsylvania). This is also the first audiobook I've encountered that audibly identifies the beginning and end of each CD in the audiobook - I wish all audiobooks did! show less

The Elm Creek Quilters are looking for two new teachers. We get the stories of five of the applicants. The story of Ross and the death of his wife made me cry. I figured out the one thing was part of the interview very quickly. I was surprised by one of the decisions, but the right people were hired in the end.

Opening Sentence: '…Every morning after breakfast, the Courtyard Quilters gathered in the recreation room of Ocean View Hills Retirement Community and Convalescent Centre to quilt, swap stories about their grandchildren, and gossip about the other residents…’

The 9th in the Elm Tree Quilts series a couple of the original teachers are leaving and the original Elm Creek Quilters are interviewing five candidates for the two teaching openings that will become available.

Each of the chapters are on a single candidate: Anna, Maggie, Gretchen, Karen, and even Russell the only male quilter. We discover what brought them into quilting, their lives past and present, how they found the advertisement, put in their application and then share the show more interview process with each of them. Very cleverly the author has the some of the candidates meeting each other as they come and go from Elm Tree.

The final chapter returns to the Elm Creek Quilters as they debate the merits of each person and decide whom to hire. I found myself to be quite engrossed with the stories - and wished they could all get the job - but decisions were made and there are a few twists and turns so that it is not necessarily as clean cut as you would expect. Complete but nicely set up for future books. show less