Reviews for The cross-country quilters

The average rating for The cross-country quilters based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-01-01 00:00:00 Haeseung Chung Judy keeps buying them, I keep reading them. And every time I pick one of the Elm Creek Quilt books up, I think, "Damn this is kind of elementary" and then wind up thinking, "Damn, this one was better than the last." This is the third in the series, and the third I've read, and my favorite one thus far. Five women meet at Elm Creek Quilt Camp and become quick friends. They decide to reunite in one year's time and in that time, they have to complete a block for a quilt after solving an issue confronting them in their life. Vinnie wants to see her grandson married. Megan wants to see a breakthrough with her young son who is hurting after his parents' acrimonious divorce and his father's refusal to acknowledge him any more. Donna wants to help her brilliant oldest daughter avoid a marriage she and her family are convinced is a huge mistake. Juilia must learn to quilt to save her fading career as an actress in Hollywood. And Grace is facing down a terrifying illness. The first half of the book sets up the women's meeting and the issues each of them faces, while the latter half deals with the resolution and subsequent trip back to Elm Creek Quilt Camp to complete their quilt. I loved this book. Now, I freely admit, it all wrapped up quite tidily and neatly at the end (for instance, Julia is an actress and one of the women's children is a theater major--see any possibilities there for assistance?). And every time I read them, I think, "Oh no, this is totally predictable" and when the totally predictable ending comes, I'm so freaking happy that everything works out well in the end, that I almost hate myself for it. But I guess that the happy ending counts for something, and as long as Jennifer Chiaverinni doles them out, I'll take them. Not many authors will I say that about.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-02-03 00:00:00 David C Smith This connects two of my addictions, reading and quilting, and requires very little from me as a reader - just like a movie one watches to purely distract and enjoy. Book candy, this is. It hit the spot it needed to this week. I'll continue on with this series. If you have similar interests, you'll settle into this one nicely. Focus is on a number of women who have attended a quilting retreat at the Elm Creek Quilt center, and they have bonded. Having attended so many of these retreats, I know the truth of it and that is what is most appealing - people who would never have met another way have the opportunity to learn together from their various walks of life, all kinds of folks, and at varying skill levels. But when a new technique, tool or trend is being presented and taught, everyone starts from scratch in most ways. In this book, the bonded women create a sub-group and make promises to meet again and stay connected. The reader gets peeks into each other lives and struggles, and ultimately an idea of how they turn out. Book candy! A nice tension releaser. Crunch, crunch, crunch. (That's the pop corn disappearing.)