The circle of women who work at Elm Creek Quilts in rural Waterford, Pennsylvania, share their troubles and find solace in their friendship while sewing a round robin hanging for the entrance wall.

When Sylvia Compson discovers evidence of her ancestors' involvement with the Underground Railroad, it raises the historical issue of the use of quilts as a method of signalling fugitive slaves.

While decorating Elm Creek Manor on Christmas Eve, Sarah McClure discovers an incomplete Christmas quilt and sets out to uncover its history with the help of Sylvia Bergstrom Compson, who reveals why the quilt had never been finished.

A seasonally themed Elm's Creek Quilts tale finds master quilter Sylvia Bergstrom Compson tackling a new quilt for her reluctant daughter-in-law that depicts holiday memories of Elm Creek Manor.

Master quilter Sylvia Compson investigates her ancestry and discovers unexpected connections to a runaway slave and quilter who traveled the Underground Railroad to Elm Creek Farm before she was captured and returned to Virginia.

Facing radical changes in their roles and outlooks when the men in their lives join the Union forces, the women of Elm Creek Valley's quilting bee begin an agonizing period of waiting that is shaped by their husbands' military duties and their respective circumstances.

When the creative residents of Elm Creek gather the week after Thanksgiving to work on quilts for Project Linus, they respond to Sylvia's provocative questions to alleviate respective personal challenges and learn helpful lessons about the strength of human connections.