I bought this paperback at Boston airport a couple of years back and it is a very cosy sentimental Christmas read...
Sylvia Bergstrom, a quilter, single and in her 70s, of German descent, has moved back into the old family home of Elm Creek Manor, now that her estranged sister has died. A young friend helps her find decorations in the attic on Christmas Eve and discovers an unfinished Christmas quilt that stirs up memories of times past.
She had never forgotten the Christmas Quilt, nor had she expected to see it again. From what she could see of the folded bundle of patchwork and applique, not a single stitch had been added since she last worked upon it. And yet every intricate Feathered Star block, every graceful appliqued cluster of holly leaves and berries had been tucked away as neatly as if a conscientious quiltmaker had had every intention of completing her masterpiece. Even the scraps of fabric had been sorted according to colour – greens here, reds there, golds and creams in their own separate piles. The Christmas Quilt had been abandoned, but it had not been discarded.
Tonight in the last few hours of Christmas Day, Sylvia intended to work on the Christmas Quilt, to complete a task too long neglected. In her home full of memories, she felt the presence of all those whom she loved, blessing her and wishing her well. At last she understood the true lesson of the Christmas Quilt, that a family was an act of creation, the piecing together of disparate fragments into one cloth – often harmonious, occasionally clashing and discordant, but sometimes unexpectedly beautiful and strong. Without contrast there was no pattern and each piece, whether finest silk or faded cotton, would endure if sewn fast to the others with strong seams – bonds of love and loyalty, tradition and faith.
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