In this inspiring guide, Lexie Barnes shows you how to create handmade bags that provide customized functionality while showcasing your own personal style. With step-by-step instructions for 18 pattern-free projects that include drawstring sacks, handbags, and messenger bags, Barnes encourages you to experiment with bold fabrics, hand-picked materials, and purpose-tailored dimensions to create fashionably unique bags that are suitable for your individual needs.

    It's bad enough that she has to work on Christmas Eve but now there's a drunk bloke dressed as Santa and claiming to be St Nick hanging around outside her flat. Given he's professing to be the giver of Christmas miracles and nearly 2000 years old, she's wary.Things get even more weird when St Nick insists he's there to save Theo. And with the next St Nicholas Day somehow fast approaching, he's even got a plan that'll change her life forever.It all seems pretty straightforward, apart for one awkward fact:Theodora Quirke doesn't actually need saving.

    Originally a paper/collage-based art form, ATCs have caught on with crafters working in a range of mediums and are now just as popular among fabric and mixed-media artists. ATCs are mini art works, the size of a playing card, often created as limited editions. The back of each card contains the artist's name and contact information. The idea behind the cards is to make them and then give, trade, or share them with others. This collection inspires with 1,000 original cards in a beautiful pageant of color, composition, and creative use of materials. The book also includes a special section devoted to explaining what ATCs are, how to get started, and includes some exciting technique information. Curated by Patricia Bolton, founder and editor-in-chief of two of the most exciting creative magazines on the newsstands, the book meets the Quarry Books mission of offering artistic and challenging new ideas to traditional paper artists, scrapbookers, mixed-media artists, and quilters by merging paper, fabric, and surface embellishment through experimentation and discovery.

    Explore seven core techniques and multiple projects using each technique—all presented with detailed instructions. Also included is step-by-step direction from Jacquie Gering and Katie Pedersen on tools, materials, and quilting basics, as well as expert advice on color and design.New and seasoned quilting artists will love making stunning bed, wall hanging, pillowcase, and table accessory quilts with this must-have resource. Quilting Modern is a field guide for quilters who strive to break free from tradition and yearn to explore improvisational work.Quilters can make the 21 projects in the book, but will also come away with the new knowledge and skills to apply to their own unique designs. In Quilting Modern, quilters will find the support, structure, and encouragement they need to explore their own creativity and artistic vision.

    Collected by renowned quilt authority and collector Roderick Kiracofe, they represent a 20th-century quilt movement that remains mostly undocumented. Unlike the familiar quilts that replicate traditional patterns of earlier centuries, these surprising textiles represent a freer, more casual, utilitarian style that departs from (and returns to) a multitude of norms and standards. Peppered with essays by renowned experts that help to contextualize the quilts’ surprisingly modern aesthetic, Unconventional & Unexpected is a groundbreak­ing celebration of 20th-century quilting that picks up where most other quilt histories leave off.

    Morgan Trayhern's toughest mercenary is about to find his heart this Christmas when his matchmaking boss puts him in the path of Montana's prettiest widow.

    But after a devastatingly difficult winter, with sky high bills, she didn't know if she could afford to carry on - or if she had the physical strength to keep going. Then, in the first week of January, the phone rang. A donkey had been abandoned 130 miles away. Rushing to his rescue Tracy found Alan - forlorn, balding and shivering - tethered up tightly in a supermarket car park. Barely able to walk on his painfully overgrown hooves, he had been left to die. Tracy ran her hands gently over Alan's protruding ribs, and whispered in his ear: 'Don't worry boy, I won't give up on you.' Over the next twelve months, as Tracy grappled with attacks from vandals and perilous flash floods and desperately tried to raise money, Alan gradually recovered - turning into a loveable rogue. As Christmas rolled around, Tracy was too worried about the future to enjoy the festive season. She had no idea that the shy skinny animal she'd rescued was going to give her the greatest gift of all . . . For animal lovers everywhere, Alan The Christmas Donkey is a funny, warm and inspiring read.

    With instructions for 21 embroidery stitches and 6 projects, all in Laura's signature colorful, whimsical style, you'll transform a flat, plain surface into a joyful, design-packed art piece. Stitch on wool, felt, or silk, and enjoy the simple pleasure of slow stitching. Includes a gallery of display ideas.

    Presenting a diverse collection of projects—many inspired by the Japanese zakka aesthetic—such as a travel sewing kit, sewing machine cover, table runner, apron, eco bag, towels, calendar, lap quilt, tote bag, pillowcase, and shoulder bag, all designs are fun, functional, and easy to master. Combining sewing, appliqué, quilting, and patchwork techniques with thoughtful advice on how to select, work with, and care for linen, this colorful handbook is brimming with sophisticated and innovative projects to challenge and inspire both beginning and intermediate sewers and quilters.

    A disastrous trip including lost luggage and a body search at security sends him to the variety store to replace his toiletries. All he wants is to relieve the pounding in his head, play a little bluegrass, and find a “plus one” to ward off any matchmaking attempts by his friends. Then Holly Ferguson, the cashier from a local variety store, accuses him of theft, and his bad day gets worse.Can a stolen moment under the summer mistletoe turns everything around? Get a glimpse into the characters and world of Mistletoe Meadows in this complimentary micro-read.

    For Maggie Sugden, left to run Emmerdale Farm on her own while her husband, Joe, is at the front, it will bring grief and loss but also independence and the chance to find a place to belong - and perhaps even to love again.Christmas At Emmerdale is the first in a sweeping new saga series, exploring the lives of Emmerdale's much-loved families during the run up to the Great War.What readers are saying about Christmas at Emmerdale:'An enjoyable read with well written and well-developed characters''Had a fantastic Christmas and Emmerdale feel to it. Really enjoyed it!''A fantastic book!''A lovely, easy to read novel'

    These seasonal poems - together with introductory paragraphs - have a link to the date on which they appear.Includes poems by Mary Oliver, Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Hardy, E. E. Cummings and Robert Burns who sit alongside Joseph Coelho, George the Poet, Benjamin Zephaniah and Jackie Kay. This soul-enhancing book will keep you company for every day of winter.

    From temperance quilts to the AIDS quilt, there’s a rich history of individuals and communities using fabric and thread to connect with others and express themselves, both personally and politically. Why We Quilt blends bits of this history with the stories and work of today’s leading quilters, highlighting themes of tradition, community, consumerism, change, and creativity. With a unique die-cut cover and a richly layered design, this book will enthrall designers, quilters, and all types of handcraft enthusiasts.

    That's why she ditched a frustrating legal career to open her own store in Fool's Gold, California. The Christmas Attic celebrates everything that's magical about her favorite season. Business is booming, and as a bonus, gorgeous army doctor Gabriel Boylan has offered to help out during the holiday rush.Gabriel's memories of Christmas past contain more sour grapes than sugarplums, thanks to a drill sergeant father who ran his home like a boot camp. Spending the holidays with his family while he recuperates from injury sounds as appetizing as last year's eggnog. Still, there are some enjoyable distractions in town, including sunny, sexy Noelle—and the red-hot mistletoe kisses they can't stop sharing.Gabriel didn't think he was made for happily-ever-afters. But when fate hands you a love as sweet and surprising as this, only a fool could refuse....Features the bonus novella Yours for Christmas.

    Now she waits for news of her shopkeeper husband Ted, who volunteered at the outbreak of war, for the British Expeditionary Forces.Molly, intent on running the general store with the help of her retired father, Bill Keen and ex-proprietor of the business, listens to the wireless broadcasts on the D Day landings. But Ted perishes, leaving Molly a widow, her only source of income, the store they had built up together.The East End is soon subject to a horrific blitz by the Luftwaffe and unprepared for the vicious aerial attack on London timed to coincide with the tidal low point of the River Thames. Water mains are severed by the unloading of 10,000 fire bombs on the city. Swift’s General Store in Roper Street falls victim to a fierce explosion. Will Molly and her father survive the impact and is tragedy once again looming large in valiant Molly’s life?