Background

Jennifer Chiaverini was born in 1969 in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

Education

Jennifer Chiaverini attended the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago. Three courses at the University of Chicago that included Contemporary Historical Fiction, Nineteenth-Century Women Novelists, and British Gothic Fiction helped her understand historical fiction and become interested in authorship.

Career

Former designer of the Elm Creek Quilts fabric lines from Red Rooster Fabrics and writing instructor at Pennsylvania State University, State College, and Edgewood College, Jennifer Chiaverini taught herself how to quilt in 1994. Her experiences with quilting led her to write her first novel, which revolves around the world of quilting and spurred a whole series of novels about a quilting community in Pennsylvania.

Chiaverini's first novel, The Quilter's Apprentice, published in 1999, is the story of two women, Sarah and Sylvia, one young and one old coming together through quilting. Sarah agrees to work for Sylvia on the condition that Sylvia will teach her to quilt. Through their instruction, much of Sylvia's secret past is revealed and together they use Sylvia's inheritance to form the Elm Creek Quilting Camp.

The second work in what came to be called the "Elm Creek Quilts" novels is titled Round Robin. The story picks up where the last left off, still focusing on Sarah and Sylvia, only now expanding to include other quilters who visit the camp. The women come together to make a round-robin quilt for the camp, and through the process learn more about themselves, each other, and friendship.

For the third installment of the series, Chiaverini brings together a new group of women in The Cross-Country Quilters. A group of diverse women, each with their own problems, meet at the Elm Creek quilt camp and agree to make a Challenge Quilt together. Each participant must overcome one of their own personal challenges before they can begin their section of the quilt. They agree to meet back at the camp a year later. The Runaway Quilt is the fourth book and focuses on Sylvia and her family history. It documents the story of Elm Creek Manor, Sylvia's family home, and the site of the Elm Creek quilting camp. When a mysterious quilt is discovered, Sylvia is left with many questions about what she thought she knew of her family.

Published the same year as The Runaway Quilt was Elm Creek Quilts: Projects Inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts Novels. Chiaverini wrote this text with the help of a quilt designer and teacher Nancy Odom. It is a pattern book for quilting projects based on and inspired by the characters and events of Chiaverini's novels. The fifth book in the series appeared as The Quilter's Legacy. The book focuses again on Sylvia, this time chronicling her search for five quilts her mother made before she died.

In The Master Quilter, each of Sylvia's friends who help her run Elm Creek Manor is given a chapter to tell a story, with each story covering the same events. The quilting project this time is a wedding gift for Sylvia and her new husband, Andrew. As the quilt is made, each friend must deal with a crisis in their own lives.

The seventh book in the series, The Sugar Camp Quilt, is a historical novel that takes place before the Civil War in Creeks Crossing, Pennsylvania. The story revolves around the Granger family, caught up in the issue of runaway slaves and the Underground Railroad. When teenaged Dorothea Granger is asked by her uncle to make a special quilt with a specific pattern, she has no idea that the quilt, like others, will be used as a marker for the Underground Railroad.

In The Christmas Quilt, the author takes the reader back to a time between The Quilter's Apprentice and The Master Quilter. The story revolves around family problems and regrets. Circle of Quilters finds Sylvia and her friends at Elm Creek Quilt Camp looking for a new instructor. The various candidates must tell what quilting has meant to them. The recent novel from the Elm Creek Quilts series, The Christmas Boutique, was published in 2019. The collections of quilt patterns inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts novels are Elm Creek Quilts: Quilt Projects, Return to Elm Creek: More Quilt Projects, More Elm Creek Quilts: 11 Quilt Projects, and Sylvia's Bridal Sampler from Elm Creek Quilts.

Besides the Elm Creek Quilts series, Jennifer Chiaverini is the author of historical novels. The recent, Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters (2020), is about love, loss, and sisterhood. Some of Chiaverini's quilt designs have been featured in Quilt, Country Woman, Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volumes 3-5, while her short fiction has been featured in Quilters Newsletter and Quiltmaker.

Achievements

• Jennifer Chiaverini is a historical fiction bestselling New York Times author best known for the Elm Creek Quilts series in addition to several collections of quilt patterns that were inspired by her novels. For her writings, Choron is recognized and highly praised. Her books have received positive reviews and are appreciated.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Fates and Traitors: A Novel of John Wilkes Booth

    (John Wilkes Booth, the mercurial son of an acclaimed Brit...)

    2016
  • Resistance Women

    (After Wisconsin graduate student Mildred Fish marries bri...)

    2019
  • Mrs. Lincoln's Sisters

    (In May 1875, Elizabeth Todd Edwards reels from the news t...)

    2020
  • Return To Elm Creek: More Quilt Projects Inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts Novels

    (Return To Elm Creek acquaints the reader with favorite ch...)

    2004
  • Enchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace

    (The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the most brillia...)

    2017
  • Elm Creek Quilts: Quilt Projects Inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts Novels

    (Elm Creek Quilts: Quilt Projects Inspired by the Elm Cree...)

    2002
  • More Elm Creek Quilts: 30+ Traditional Blocks, 11 Projects, Favorite Character Sketches

    (More Elm Creek Quilts contains 11 timeless quilts inspire...)

    2008
  • Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker

    (In a life that spanned nearly a century and witnessed som...)

    2013
  • Sylvia's Bridal Sampler from Elm Creek Quilts: The True Story Behind the Quilt, 140 Traditional Blocks

    (Reading Sylvia's Bridal Sampler from Elm Creek Quilts, th...)

    2009
  • The Spymistress

    (Born to slave-holding aristocracy in Richmond, Virginia, ...)

    2013
  • Mrs. Lincoln's Rival

    (Kate Chase Sprague was born in 1840 in Cincinnati, Ohio, ...)

    2014
  • Christmas Bells

    (In 1860, the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow family celebrated...)

    2015
  • Harriet's Journey from Elm Creek Quilts

    (Jennifer Chiaverini is back with a beautiful new sampler ...)

    2020
  • Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule

    (In 1844, shy Missouri belle Julia Dent met Lieutenant Uly...)

    2015

• books

  • The Elm Creek Quilts

    (The Elm Creek Quilts book series consists of twenty-one b...)

Views

Chiaverini always wanted to become a writer ever since she read Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt that was recommended to her by her favorite children's librarian. She was then a seven-year-old and she never forgot the timeless themes of mortality and family and how choices reveal who we are and determine fates. She still loves to read and many times can be found reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen which is her go-to for relaxation and comfort.

As a beginner quilter, she found that quilters were very welcoming to people interested in the craft. They were always willing to help beginners hone their skills by sharing their knowledge. The fact that it is a very positive, encouraging, and welcoming art form appealed to her and she knew she had to portray it in fiction.

Membership

Jennifer Chiaverini is a member of the Mad City Quilters.

Interests

• quilting

Connections

Jennifer Chiaverini is married and has two sons.

References

• Jennifer Chiaverini's Twitter
• Jennifer Chiaverini's Instagram