NEW! Jennifer Chiaverini's The World's Fair Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel
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Jennifer Chiaverini's The World's Fair Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel
Item #: 0063433575
A timely celebration of quilting, family, community, and history in this latest novel in the perennially popular Elm Creek Quilts series from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini.
When financial difficulties threaten Sylvia Bergstrom Compson’s legacy, she draws courage and resilience from memories of an extraordinary quilt competition. As fall paints the Pennsylvania countryside in flaming colors, Sylvia is contemplating the future of her beloved Elm Creek Quilts.
A week before the launch of Elm Creek Orchards, a new venture Sylvia hopes will earn much-needed revenue for her nineteenth-century rural Pennsylvania estate, her friend and colleague Summer Sullivan—a founding Elm Creek Quilter and curator of the Waterford Historical Society’s quilt gallery—requests a special favor. Summer discusses with Sylvia an antique quilt that she wants to display at the Waterford Historical Society’s quilt exhibit. When Sylvia and her sister Claudia were teenagers, they had entered a quilt in the Sears National Quilt Contest for the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The Bergstrom sisters’ quilt would be perfect for the Historical Society’s exhibit, Summer explains.
With a tantalizing grand prize of $1,200—more than the average annual income at the time—the unprecedented contest offered its 25,000 participants the opportunity for artistic expression, the thrill of competition, and fame, with the finalists’ quilts prominently displayed at the Chicago World’s Fair. As part of Summer’s exhibit, the Bergstrom sisters’ World’s Fair Quilt would illuminate an almost forgotten chapter of women’s history during the difficult years of the Great Depression.
Sylvia grants Summer’s request, though with misgivings. Sylvia is reluctant to lend out the quilt, which has been stored in the attic for decades, nearly forgotten. In keeping with the contest’s “Century of Progress” theme, the girls illustrated progress of values—scenes of the Emancipation Proclamation, woman’s suffrage, and labor unions. But although it won ribbons, the quilt also drove a wedge between the sisters.
The Elm Creek Quilt Camp remains the most popular quilter’s retreat in the country, but unexpected financial difficulties have beset them and the Bergstrom family’s stately nineteenth-century manor. Now in her eighth decade, Sylvia is determined to maintain her family’s legacy, but she needs new resources—financial and emotional.
As Summer prepares the World’s Fair Quilt for exhibit, Sylvia reluctantly retraces her quilt’s story for Summer, she makes an unexpected discovery—one that restores some of her faith in this unique work of art, and helps shine some light on a way forward and finds hope for the future for the Elm Creek Quilts community.
448 pages
Large Print
by Jennifer Chiaverini
Reviews
“It’s been 25 years since Chiaverini introduced readers to the Elm Creek Quilts series, and she shows no signs of slowing down, deftly stitching two storylines together in this offering…Fans of the series will love this entry, which can be read on its own but will build interest in the preceding Elm Creek Quilts books.” —Library Journal
The Best Historical Fiction of 2025 —BookBub
“An outstanding series of novels…Quilting, in the hands of Chiaverini, allows us to explore human relationships in all their complexity.” —Booklist
"The novel’s pastoral details, such as the delivery by wagon of homemade apple cider to workers building a farm stand, evoke a simpler time of camaraderie and cooperation between neighbors, and this sense of tight-knit community blends seamlessly with the historical details and enriching quilt lore. Series fans and newcomers alike will be glad to be in Sylvia’s company." — Publishers Weekly
“Chiaverini’s twenty-second Elm Creek Quilts novel…is like a strong cup of tea—cozy yet hard-hitting—and will appeal to current fans and new readers alike.” — Booklist on The Museum of Lost Quilts
“Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first novel in her extensive Elm Creek Quilts series, Chiaverini’s latest installment is rich with detail...telling the tale of a particular woman’s motivation to design and craft a particular quilt. Whether inspired by love or grief, the resulting artwork is described with astonishing attention to design, workmanship, and symbolism. Chiaverini also explores how the practice of her craft transforms each woman’s emotional life, each stitch bringing her closer to a sense of peace… A warm portrait of women bound by craft—perfect for fireside reading.” — Kirkus Reviews on The Christmas Boutique
“Enchanting…. The host of different characters offer their own points of view to enrich this heartwarming tale of friendships explored and history retold.” — New York Journal of Books on The Christmas Boutique
“This is an outstanding series of novels about a fascinating craft. Quilting, in the hands of Chiaverini, allows us to explore human relationships in all their complexity.” — Booklist on the Elm Creek Quilts series
“Jennifer Chiaverini has made quite a name for herself with her bestselling Elm Creek Quilts series. From the Civil War to the roaring ’20s to contemporary settings, these novels have offered suspense, romance and, at times, in-depth looks into the social, political and cultural differences that helped shape a nation.” — BookPage on the Elm Creek Quilts series
