As Christmas approaches, Sarah wants to decorate Elm Creek Manor. When she and Sylvia retrieve the decorations from the attic, Sarah finds another box Sylvia did not expect. The box contains a quilt begun by Great Aunt Lucinda which had been worked on by generations of Bergstrom women but never completed. Sarah wants to finish it. Sylvia hopes Sarah can make amends with her mother this Christmas. The book is filled with lovely Christmas traditions and sadness as we read of the men lost in World War II. I'm not sure why I never read this installment, but I'm glad I did. It's a great way to start the holiday series--thinking of families and the traditions we share. ( )

After first reading #16 of this series, I chose #8 and I am glad I did as this book told the history of the manor and it's owner Sylvia. The book goes back in time and then smoothly back to present time.
Sylvia is remembering Christmases from long ago and the various family members. Sarah and her husband Matt is staying with Sylvia. The two ladies help each other through difficult relationships with family. It's a quick read (or listen as I did with the audio version). ( )

This is a hard book to define by genre because it spans several in my opinion. It seems to be mostly about family and traditions--centering on the Bergstrom family and Christmas. They have many traditions: making apple strudel to give away to family friends (and having some for Christmas morning breakfast too); hiding the ruby and gold star tree-topper for the children to find with the finder getting a prize; the most recently married couple getting sent out to choose the Christmas tree; a Christmas quilt that's been worked on by several generations of the family

It is somewhat regrettable that the author chose to name the two main women in the story with names that both started with S. Having not read the series prior to this book, I found it a bit hard to remember which woman was which.

Years ago, Sylvia left her family homestead after losing her husband and baby daughter and younger brother--and after being told that her soon to be brother-in-law had hidden instead of helping her husband to save her brother--something she told her sister who refused to believe it. The rift between the sisters remained until after Claudia's death when Sylvia is left as the only heir to the family home.

With Sarah's help, Sylvia transforms what's left of the family estate into a quilter's haven and retreat, but with the approaching holiday, they have no quilting classes booked. Sarah decides to decorate the manor which brings back many memories for Sylvia.

But at the same time, Sylvia sees that Sarah may be heading down a path similar to the one she took so many years ago--a path she now regrets. So Sylvia encourages and then forces Sarah and Matt to go see Sarah's mother.

Sarah rediscovers the Christmas quilt--still unfinished after all these years--and with a fresh eye, sets about to piece it out and get it finished. Agnes reunites the star tree topper with its family and reveals who took it all those years ago when Sylvia hid it, intending for Andrew to find it. Agnes also may have reunited Sylvia with a beloved cousin who moved to California (though that plot line is left open ended). ( )

The Christmas Quilt
This story starts out with Sylvia and Sarah and they have uncovered the Christmas Quilt that a relative had started and never finished.
The story then goes back in time to when Sylvia was growing up and the economy got worse. Not only did her father have problems selling their horses but they had loans from the bank as did all the neighbors.
When Eleanor, her mother finds out she made more strudel and passed it around to all the neighbors. She then went and cleaned out her closets to give the clothes to others who needed it more. The kids also collected toys to give to others-which is still done.
Love the story of their Christmas pickle. Sad to hear of her mother's passing but nice to hear how they name the horses after her favorite quilt block. Loved all the talks of quilt blocks.
The year Sylvia got her first ever sewing kit was precious. Love how the pickle was discovered and hearing about the tradition of decorating a tree outside.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). ( )

It is nice to read an easy book after the Time Traveler's Wife. I like the continuity of this series, though I hear Chiaverini claims it is not a series. I like to revisit the characters and see what they are up to. This book follows The Gentle Art of Domesticity a bit, because the stories recounts a lot of domestic scenes and highlights how simple activities in the domestic arena can make people happy. There is a lot of repetition of other stories in the series, however. The repetition does fit in, but gets a bit old. ( )