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SUMMARY:Foundation Speaker Series: The World's Fair Quilt by Jennifer
  Chiaverini
UID:9695
DTSTAMP:20260403T210300Z
DTSTART:20250508T233000Z
DTEND:20250509T004500Z
LOCATION:7635 West North Ave\nWauwatosa WI 53213
ROOM: Firefly Room
DESCRIPTION:Join bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini as she discusses h
 er latest book, The World's Fair Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel. J
 ennifer Chiaverini returns to the well-loved circle of Elm Creek Quilters 
 to illuminate a nearly forgotten jubilant moment in women’s history duri
 ng the trying years of the Great Depression. In chapters alternating betwe
 en 2004 and 1933, THE WORLD’S FAIR QUILT: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel (Wil
 liam Morrow: On sale: April 1, 2025) stitches together a story of sisterho
 od and sibling rivalry, guilt and resentment, forgiveness and peace. In h
 er eighth decade, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson is content to be back at Elm Cr
 eek Manor—the home she fled, in grief and despair, after her first husba
 nd and younger brother were killed in World War II, followed by an irrepar
 able falling-out with her elder sister, Claudia. Her fifty years’ absenc
 e has made each day at her ancestral estate in rural Pennsylvania all the 
 more precious, especially since she is surrounded by her new family—her 
 husband, Andrew, and kindred quilters. Thanks to dedicated, gifted faculty
  and the business acumen of Sarah McClure, the Elm Creek Quilt Camp has bl
 ossomed into a perennially popular quilter’s retreat. Sylvia often marve
 ls at how, in her golden years, she has forged cherished friendships, foun
 ded a thriving business, rediscovered the artist within herself, fallen in
  love with a long-lost childhood friend—and still feels as if the best i
 s yet to come. All would be well—if not for new, unexpected financial wo
 rries. Restoring the woefully neglected estate she inherited after her spe
 ndthrift sister’s death was no easy feat, and now the roof needs replaci
 ng. Perhaps the launch of Elm Creek Orchards, a venture spearheaded by Sar
 ah’s husband, will spare Sylvia from having to raise the price of sessio
 ns for campers—or worse, seeking a loan or a benefactor. A child of the 
 Great Depression, Sylvia abhors the thought of both debt and bankruptcy. 
 As she ponders her options, Sylvia receives a startling request from her y
 oung friend and colleague Summer Sullivan, curator of the Waterford Histor
 ical Society’s quilt gallery. Summer would like to exhibit a quilt Sylvi
 a and Claudia made together when they were in her early teens—a rare art
 ifact indeed, since the sisters’ prickly and competitive relationship ma
 de them very poor quilting partners. Yet in 1933, they put aside their dif
 ferences to collaborate on a quilt for the Sears National Quilt Contest fo
 r the upcoming Century of Progress Exposition. The sisters were driven by 
 dreams of winning the $1,200 grand prize—then an enormous, life- changin
 g sum of money—and having their quilt in the spotlight at the at the Chi
 cago World’s Fair. Submitted under the name “Claudia Sylvia Bergstrom,
 ” their World’s Fair Quilt won first place at the local level— accom
 panied by a check for ten dollars from the Harrisburg Sears—and went on 
 to receive a Ribbon of Merit at the regional level in Philadelphia. As a 
 Master Quilter, Sylvia has reason to be proud of her early masterpiece. It
  won two prizes in the largest quilt contest ever held, then and ever afte
 r. Twenty-five thousand quilts were submitted, which, given the population
  at the time, meant that roughly one of every two thousand American women 
 participated. The quilts revealed how the concept of progress was imagined
  and defined by a people still recovering from World War I and struggling 
 through the Great Depression. For the quilt she made with her sister, Sylv
 ia seized on the idea of illustrating progress of values, depicting scenes
  of the Emancipation Proclamation, women’s suffrage, and labor unions. T
 hen, there was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s role in the contest, a con
 troversy behind the grand prize winner, and the mystery of how the winning
  quilt vanished. Sylvia agrees that the World’s Fair Quilt is a work of 
 historical significance. Still, she grants Summer’s request with misgivi
 ngs, and not only because the fragile, long-neglected quilt is sorely in n
 eed of cleaning and repair. As The World's Fair Quilt unfolds, reade
 rs will discover a troubling secret that Sylvia has been keeping since 193
 3. Did she hide a critical document to protect her sister, or was her moti
 vation not purely selfless? If she had told Claudia the truth when they we
 re teens, might they have had a better relationship as adults? And so many
  decades later, has Sylvia continued to judge Claudia too harshly? Can the
  lessons of the past help secure Elm Creek Manor’s future? Affirming th
 e power of women’s friendship and the importance of quilting, The World&
 #039;s Fair Quilt is a heartwarming addition to a series described as “l
 ike a strong cup of tea—cozy yet hard-hitting” (Booklist). At one poin
 t in the novel, Sylvia reflects, “If she had learned nothing else in her
  eighty-plus years, it was that she should choose hope.” That’s a time
 ly message for us all.Boswell Books will be on hand for those who wish to 
 purchase copies of Chiaverini's books for signing.
URL:https://wauwatosa.librarycalendar.com/event/foundation-speaker-series-
 worlds-fair-quilt-jennifer-chiaverini-9695
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