. .   On her morning jog, Portia Paltrow comes upon the dead body of antiques store owner and college professor Owen Hill, sprawled across the back doorstep of Selma Parker's fabric and quilt shop on Elderberry Road. The site of their Saturday morning quilting bee just became a crime scene. Violent crime is rare in the charming village of Crestwood, Kansas, and rumors are soon circulating of a burglary gone wrong. But who would rob a quilt shop? No, Owen Hill has been murdered.   Selma and her assistant manager Susan are understandably at loose ends over the crime. So while the tightly knit covey of quilters—who range from a new mother to a wise octogenarian—work together on a Crystal Pattern quilt for Selma's store's anniversary, they also get busy stitching together a patchwork of clues. But they'd better work fast—before a crafty killer bolts . . .   Praise for Sally Goldenbaum’s Mysteries   “Goldenbaum’s Queen Bee quilters charm and delight. I hope these intriguing women will continue to quilt—and solve crimes!”—Carolyn Hart   “A perfect cozy mystery.” —Nancy Pickard

    As a symbol of the Self, the mandala provides a connection to our innermost being. The forty-eight drawings presented here for coloring include designs inspired by forms of nature, Native American and Tibetan sand paintings, Hindu yantras, Turkish mosaics, the illuminations of Hildegarde of Bingen, and the art of M.C. Escher. These mandalas are organized according to the Great Round of Mandala, a scheme of twelve archetypal stages that represents a complete cycle of personal growth. Thus, to do the coloring book from start to finish will carry the reader through a balanced experience of change, guided by the accompanying text.

    Find the motivation to change what's not working for you. Choose a smart solution for organizing and storing your stash. Turn scrapbooking into a sustainable hobby that fits comfortably into your life. Learn real organization solutions that work for you.

    Camille, Kristen, Elyse, Stephanie, Lauren, and Kendra are six sisters who share their easy, affordable recipes and crafts in this collection of family favorites. These pages contain more than 90 tried-and-true recipes that use ingredients commonly found in your pantry, with easy-to-follow instructions and photographs of each dish. Charming do-it-yourself projects, such as stained Mason Jars and a Ruffles and Yarn Wreath, are fun to create and require little time or money. Suggestions for indoor activities for kids, healthy snack ideas, or an inexpensive night out are among the many lists included in the book.

    Why knit one sock and then start all over again to make a match? Instead, knit two socks "at the same time" on two circular needles! With this creative approach, you can slip a sock on each foot as soon as you bind off.Get off to a great start with one basic sock pattern; then experiment with seven more designsMake cuffs, feet, and toes match exactly from sock to sock; no more measuring as you goDiscover how easy it is to convert any sock pattern for double-pointed needles to this ingenious method

    But with her recent move to Dapple Hills, North Carolina, she’s learning all sorts of new things—including how to solve a murder… As the newest member of the Village Quilters Guild, Beatrice has a lot of gossip to catch up on—especially with the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop about to close. It seems that Judith, the landlord everyone loves to hate, wants to raise the rent, despite being a quilter herself… But when Judith is found dead, the harmless gossip becomes an intricate patchwork of mischievous motives. And it’s up to Beatrice’s expert eye to decipher the pattern and catch the killer, before her life gets sewn up for good. Includes quilting tips!

    In New York Times bestselling author Tracy Chevalier’s newest historical saga, she introduces Honor Bright, a modest English Quaker who moves to Ohio in 1850, only to find herself alienated and alone in a strange land. Sick from the moment she leaves England, and fleeing personal disappointment, she is forced by family tragedy to rely on strangers in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape. Nineteenth-century America is practical, precarious, and unsentimental, and scarred by the continuing injustice of slavery. In her new home Honor discovers that principles count for little, even within a religious community meant to be committed to human equality. However, drawn into the clandestine activities of the Underground Railroad, a network helping runaway slaves escape to freedom, Honor befriends two surprising women who embody the remarkable power of defiance. Eventually she must decide if she too can act on what she believes in, whatever the personal costs. A powerful journey brimming with color and drama, The Last Runaway is Tracy Chevalier’s vivid engagement with an iconic part of American history.

    Abigail is moved to start collecting other swatches of fabric she finds - her neighbor's kitchen curtains, a man's necktie, a dog's bed - which she stashes in shopping bags. As she pursues her seemingly absurd quest, horrible realities spark the question, What kind of a God would allow such tragedy As she struggles to reconcile her right to happiness amidst the destruction, Abigail begins piecing together a patchwork quilt from the salvaged fabric in hopes it will bring some peace. But a new relationship with Justin, a contractor, may require too much of her fragile heart. Will her pain and questions of faith give way to the courage to love?

    . . THE RELUCTANT GROOM Jennifer Beckstrand Spirited Suvie Newswenger has three marriage proposals-but not from the man she truly loves. No matter how lonely widower Aaron Beachy is, he seems determined to stay that way forever. Now, with help from his matchmaking great-grandparents, Suvie will do whatever it takes to rekindle Aaron's hope-and spark happiness for a lifetime. JOSHUA'S BRIDE Molly Jebber Madeline Lehman fears her fianc�'s family will never accept her because of her rebellious sister. She's postponed her wedding to Joshua Stutzman until they see the truth. But when Maddie adopts her sister's abandoned baby, can she and Joshua find a way to unite their families through forgiveness as well as love? A SUMMER WEDDING IN PARADISE Amy Lillard Reba Schmucker longs to be a bride. And she knows her mischievous nieces just wanted to help when they "chose" Abel Weaver for her. But he's the last man in the world she'd ever marry. There's no way her independence and his stubbornness could ever get along-unless a sudden crisis somehow leads to understanding . . . and love.

    But she's been so busy at work, winning over the sewing circle, and trying to forget her cheating ex that she hasn't even had time to baste together a pillow, let alone mind local gossip. Then she finds the hometown sweetheart dead at her back door... Everyone believes the police investigator, who's just fixin' to link Tori to the murder in a love triangle gone bad. To clear her name, Tori will have to rely on her new sewing sisters and stitch together the truth- or be darned.

    As they gather year after year, their stories, their wisdom, their lives, form the pattern from which all of us draw warmth and comfort for ourselves.A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE COMING OUT FALL 1995-- with Maya Angelou, Winona Ryder, and Rip Torn

    The reader is introduced to basics such as choosing a journal and then immediately guided into techniques such as color mixing, drawing and a variety of surface designs. The reader is encouraged to experiment and play in the journal to try out new directions for creating works of art. The art journal becomes the starting point for bigger projects.In addition to step-by-step techniques for working in a variety of media, each chapter features one or more jumping-off points to show the reader how to move out of the journal and onto an actual project. In the final chapter, Melanie steps out three journal spreads to show how many techniques learned previously are layered and worked together. By using the art journal in this way, the reader learns confidence in developing their ideas into tangible works of art.

    Though at forty Claire’s a tad younger than their average age, her crafty reputation could perk up their patchwork proceedings, especially as they prepare for the fancy quilt show coming to town. But when they arrive at Claire’s home and find her dead inside the front door, and her exquisite, prize-winning quilts soon missing, Martha is not one to leave a mystery unraveled. Especially if she wants to stop a killer from establishing a deadly pattern…“Mary Marks had me on pins and needles and wanting to wrap myself up in a warm quilt while reading her cozy debut!” —Lee Hollis, author of Death of a Chocoholic“Mary Marks has stitched together a very clever plot with a cast of engaging characters in this funny, fast-paced debut mystery. I loved Martha Rose and her posse of crime-solving quilters and can’t wait to read what they’re up to next!” —Laura Levine, author of Killing Cupid

    With the admonition to "write this down," Williams began to describe how slaves made coded quilts and used them to navigate their escape on the Underground Railroad. But just as quickly as she started, Williams stopped, informing Tobin that she would learn the rest when she was "ready."During the three years it took for Williams's narrative to unfold--and as the friendship and trust between the two women grew--Tobin enlisted Raymond Dobard, Ph.D., an art history professor and well-known African American quilter, to help unravel the mystery.Part adventure and part history, Hidden in Plain View traces the origin of the Charleston Code from Africa to the Carolinas, from the low-country island Gullah peoples to free blacks living in the cities of the North, and shows how three people from completely different backgrounds pieced together one amazing American story.

    Transcendent, endowed with warmth and compassion."--Booklist Three generations of women discover the healing gift of family, memories and loveNeeding time to contemplate her troubled marriage, Tessa MacRae agrees to spend the summer helping her mother and grandmother clean out the family home in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. But the three women have never been close. Helen, the family matriarch, is domineering and sharp-tongued. Nancy, Tessa's mother, appears to be little more than a social climber. And Tessa herself is in turmoil following a family tragedy that has affected them all.Now, with the gift of time, Tessa's eyes are opened, and she begins to see her mother and grandmother for the flawed but courageous women they are. As she restores a vintage wedding ring quilt pieced by her grandmother and quilted by her mother, the secrets that have shadowed their lives unfold at last. And each woman discovers that sometimes you have to clean house to find the things you thought were lost forever.Previously published