A shy girl with no family, Maria knows she's lucky to have landed in the sewing room of the royal household. Before World War I casts its shadow, she catches the eye of the Prince of Wales, a glamorous and intense gentleman. But her life takes a far darker turn, and soon all she has left is a fantastical story about her time at Buckingham Palace. Decades later, Caroline Meadows discovers a beautiful quilt in her mother's attic. When she can't figure out the meaning of the message embroidered into its lining, she embarks on a quest to reveal its mystery, a puzzle that only seems to grow more important to her own heart. As Caroline pieces together the secret history of the quilt, she comes closer and closer to the truth about Maria. Page-turning and heartbreaking, The Forgotten Seamstress weaves together past and present in an unforgettable journey. This free ebook preview includes the first four chapters.

    A collection of folk tales from North Carolina and Virginia for a slightly older audience than that for Chase's Jack Tales.

    The contrast could not have been greater - as Lance Armstrong, a fraudster backed by many corporate sponsors and feted by presidents, was about to deliver a stage-managed confession to Oprah, so a young woman from a small village in Wales took aim.      She too had been a cyclist, the only rider ever to have become World and Olympic champion in the same year, and the first British cyclist to have been ranked World No.1, but as a woman in a man's sport, her exploits gained little recognition and brought no riches. She too had ridden through this dark period for the sport when drug-taking was everywhere. Nicole Cooke spoke up for those who had taken a very different path to Lance and his team-mates.      In her frank and outspoken autobiography, Cooke reveals the real story behind British cycling's rise to global dominance. With a child's dreams of success, she left home at 18 to pursue her goals in Italy. Broken contracts, unpaid wages, a horrendous injury and drugs cheats were just some of the challenges she faced, even before she lined up to take on her opponents. The Breakaway is a book that will not only inspire all those who read it, but which also asks some serious questions about the way society regards women's sport.

    And she's determined to enjoy making quilts. In fact, she will not -- absolutely will not -- let the risk of making a mistake, or a less-than- perfect quilt, keep her from relishing the task! In the 34 chapters of this new book, Lisa covers: The need for new fabric colors -- "blurple," "rorange," and "brellow," to name a few; The virtues of lumps in a quilt; How to share your bum fat quarter at a fabric exchange; How crocheting doilies will drive you back to quilting; How to cope when your quilts lack depth and dimension. Lisa Boyer is a breeze of fresh air. She brings you back to the pleasure of quilting with her confessions and adventures in Stash Envy!

    The result is diminished integrity and the loss of our ability to experience God's grace and forgiveness. This explosive book presents biblical solutions to the problem of sin, and leads readers from a life of blame and denial to the true peace and freedom.

    The satisfaction of seeing your finished quilt spread out on your bead or draped over the back of your couch will make every hour of stitching worth it ten times over!! A well-made quilt can last for a life time, while serving to not only warm your bed at night, but to brighten up your home with colors, patterns, and beauty. In this book, you will learn how to create striking and unique quilting pieces. Making quilts is easy, fun, and maybe even addicting. Even the smallest patchwork idea can quickly to become a big, full, colorful projects Start making your own quilts today, and open up a world of color, creativity, and personal expression that you may not have even knew existed. Included in this book are 10 beautiful quilt projects, so you can kick-start the learning process! These projects include pictures and a detailed step by step method to assist beginner's in their quest to master the art! Here is a preview of what you will learn… The proper way to think through the quilting process, before starting a project The materials and tools needed to complete a quilting project How to combine colors and techniques to create beautiful patterns Finishing techniques that will make you look like a pro 10 original projects to practice all that is taught in this book Download your copy today!

    

    Close friendships were forged as Natasha, Prudence, Rachel and Maisie worked together under the benevolent rule of the two Markham brothers. Now, in 1980, Natasha, newly divorced and back from America with a fifteen-year-old daughter, decides there must be a reunion. Pru, always the mysterious one, deeply involved with her commune in Cornwall, unexpectedly offers Prospect House, a property she has inherited in the Malvern hills where they may all forgather. Rachel, married to her former boss, a Liberal MP, gladly leaves a tangled domestic situation to join the friends she hasn't seen for so long. And Maisie ... Maisie, perhaps the most vulnerable of the four, mother of five children, married to the unpredictable Edward, fails to arrive at Prospect House. The drama of her disappearance has a far-reaching effect on the lives and destinies of them all. Come Rain or Shine is a poignant and unforgettable story of the particularly close friendships that women enjoy - and of the complications that can arise when friends meet again after many years have passed.

     Meet Margaret, whose adventures in a new quilting group help her reconnect with her daughter as they grieve the slow loss of a loved one to Alzheimer’s. Then there’s Liz, a quilter seeking her own tribe in a neighborhood of perfect moms. But maybe she has more in common with her neighbors than she thinks. Sisters Amanda and Lucy, one dreamy, the other practical as the day is long, have financial woes that may force them to sell their beloved home. Can a quilt made with fabric from a mysterious aunt save the day? Lisa is still reckoning with the loss of her best friend. Diving headfirst into a new quilt project, she learns that sometimes a gift can be a first step toward healing. Melissa Bennett is sensible, smart and skeptical of marriage. A husband sounds nice, but with all the books and quilts in her life, where would she put him?

    Enjoy an entertaining look at the history of the Featherweight sewing machine. Expanded third edition updated with the latest research. Packed with photos, stories, and handy information. Learn to date and troubleshoot your machine. A fun read for quilters, Featherweight owners, and history buffs.

    She wrote of three day blizzards, forty ton trains stuck in the snow, houses buried in snowdrifts and a town that nearly starved.Was Laura's story just fiction, or was that one winter stranger than fiction? Was that winter really that bad, or was it just a typical old time winter stretched a bit to make a good tale?Author Dan L. White examines the reality of the long, hard winter. White uses contemporary newspaper articles, autobiographies and historical accounts of those who lived through that time to weave a fascinating story of the incredible winter of 1880-81.

    Tessa was no saint, and the rich shed crocodile tears for the departed philanthropist. Now the question Molly needs to answer isn’t who wanted Tessa dead, but who killed her—and why.Hot SchemesWhen Michael O’Hara’s favorite uncle’s boat floats into the Miami docks wired to explode, Molly DeWitt is horrified when Michael leaps aboard and speeds away from the gawking crowd. Singed by his narrow escape, Michael is burning to discover the truth. Is Uncle Miguel dead? Molly and Michael search for clues, but find themselves point-blank in the crosshairs of terror...

    But with the help of Jonty - a young misfit who soon became her best friend - she managed to escape, running away with the fairground folk. She became a horserider and acrobat, travelling all around the country. Her friends became the circus people, and her home the caravans and travellers' tents. Meanwhile, in a great house in Yorkshire, old Mrs Winthrop has never given up hope of finding her daughter Madeleine, who eloped with a handsome gypsy and was never seen again. When her young neighbour sets out to find Madeleine, he discovers the colourful world of the fairs. And there, in the midst of it all, Polly Anna - once the waif from the workhouse, now a fully-fledged gypsy girl. Previously published as The Romany Girl.

    Finish up by following Amanda's suggestions for filling in background space with free-motion quilting.

    What do you do when: Mr Could Do Worse dumps you on the very night you think he's going to propose? Your twenty-something son turns up on your doorstep, with a broken heart and dirty washing in tow? You find out you're going to be a granny - at 45? Your son's maybe ex-girlfriend's father starts making wickedly naughty suggestions? Your ex's new bit of stuff wants to become your new best friend? Your 70-year-old father is dating someone young enough to be your sister? You make the same mistakes you made in your twenties two whole decades later? You can't get the one person you want out of your head? You grab the vodka and wonder if you're too old for all this crap!