A round robin quilt is created by sewing concentric patchwork or applique borders to a cental block as it is passed around a circle of friends. Each woman, sewing to a quilt, adds her story to the ongoing history of Elm Creek Manor.

Alerted to the possibility that her family had ties to the slaveholding South, Sylvia scours her attic and finds three quilts and a memoir written by Gerda, the spinster sister of clan patriarch Hans Bergstrom. The memoir describes the founding of Elm Creek Manor and how, using quilts as markers, Hans, his wife, Anneke, and Gerda came to beckon fugitive slaves to safety within its walls. When a runaway named Joanna arrives from a South Carolina plantation...

With the sound of wedding bells ringing in the ears of the Elm Creek Quilters, the close knit group can hardly believe that their own Sylvia Compson planned her holiday wedding to sweetheart Andrew in complete secrecy, without the help of even one of her friends. Eager to honor the newlyweds, the Elm Creek Quilters hasten to stitch a bridal quilt for their favorite Master Quilter. Until the time comes to unveil the surprise gift, they reason, Sylvia...

"A dutiful daughter and niece, Dorothea Granger's dreams of furthering her education are thwarted by the needs of home. A gifted quilter, her hope chest full of quilts is lost in a tragic flood. A superior student, she is promoted from pupil to teacher -- only to lose her position to the privileged son of a town benefactor. But the ultimate test of her courage and convictions comes with the death of her stern Uncle Jacob, who inexplicably asks Dorothea...

As Sylvia, a late-in-life newlywed, has discovered, love can enter our lives at any age. Yet before she can truly delight in her present happiness, she must face the sorrow hidden in her past -- her own role in the tragic circumstances that left her estranged from her sister, Claudia, until it was too late to make amends. Vowing not to repeat the mistake with her new daughter-in-law, Amy, who opposed Sylvia's marriage to her father, Andrew, Sylvia...

Anna Del Maso, head chef at Elm Creek Manor, learns about the the manor's many traditions from Sylvia Compson as they plan for the full renovation of the kitchen.

Quilters have flocked to Elm Creek Manor to learn from Master Quilter Sylvia Compson and her expert colleagues. There's Sarah, Sylvia's onetime apprentice who's paired her quilting accomplishments with a mind for running the business of Elm Creek Quilts; Agnes, who has a gift for applique;; Gwen, who stitches innovative art quilts; Diane, a whiz at the technicalities of quick-piecing; and Bonnie, with her encyclopedic knowledge of folk art patterns....

The Elm Creek Quilters are home for the holidays, during which days spent hand-stitching heartfelt gifts for loved ones brings forth the true spirit of generosity and kindness, especially when Gwen gifts a quilt project to her mentor's bone-marrow donor.

In 1862 Water's Ford, Pennsylvania, abolitionism is prevalent, even passionate, so the local men rally to answer Mr. Lincoln's call to arms. Thus the women of Elm Creek Valley's quilting bee are propelled into the unknown. Constance Wright, married to Abel, a skilled sharpshooter courageous enough to have ventured south to buy his wife's freedom from a Virginia plantation, knows well her husband's certainty that all people, enslaved and free, North...

At Elm Creek Manor, the week after Thanksgiving is "Quiltsgiving." Quilters gather for a special camp to make gifts for a charitable organization dedicated to providing handmade quilts and blankets to children in need. Each quilter pledges the strength of her creative gifts to alleviate the collective burden of neighbors, friends and family members. As the week unfolds, the quilters respond to Master Quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson Cooper's question...