Initial thoughts (186 pages read) - I wonder why this novel was written almost entirely as a recap of the past 20 years. It is set in the future, with Sarah and Matt's twins grown up and the daughter getting married. Instead of the novel focusing on the wedding, or the events leading up to the wedding, it is telling the story of every single Elm Creek quilter over the past 20-30 years. It's an odd way of telling the story.

Final thoughts - My initial opinion still stands. Way too much flashback, very little plot connecting the thread of stories. It was an ok book, just not good. I found myself skimming, trying to get back the actual wedding. If these stories needed to be included in the series, they should have taken up several additional books instead of cramming 25 years of back story into one novel.

Also, the inclusion of future details was odd. It sounded like, in only the next 25 years, the US will have adopted universal health care, much increased pay for teachers, completely rechargeable cars, and survived a huge environmental crisis. These details were interjected into the story and played no relevance to the plot, but they weren't elaborated on. Too much of a teaser. The story could have been set in 2011 without the mention of these futuristic changes.

I'm bummed. I was the fifth or sixth person at my library to read this book. I wanted it to be all about quilting, sharing more of the intimate lives of some of my favorite characters. Sadly, those two aspects were completely lacking.