As the nation grapples with Prohibition, an act of violence shatters Rosa Barclay's resolve to maintain her family’s increasingly dangerous existence in Southern California. She flees with the children to the mesa where she last saw her beloved mother alive.

In 1862, the men of Water's Ford, Pennsylvania, rally to President Lincoln's call while Dorothea Granger marshals her friends to "wield their needles for the Union." As their men struggle on the battlefield, the women forge a new independence that will forever change Elm Creek Valley.

Sarah McClure arrived at Elm Creek Manor as a newlywed, never suspecting that her quilting lessons with master quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson would inspire the successful and enduring business Elm Creek Quilts, whose members have nurtured a circle of friendship spanning generations. THE WEDDING QUILT opens as the wedding day of Sarah's daughter Caroline approaches.

The Elm Creek Quilters gather every holiday season to stitch holiday gifts for loved ones. Inspired to revive a lost family tradition, Sylvia Bergstrom Compson Cooper invites her friends to sew quilt blocks that represent their own unique stories of gratitude and love.