Stupendous Stitching

"Take your quilts to the next level of creativity by using the decorative stitches built into your sewing machine. Karen shows how to find multiple uses for a single stitch, how to combine stitches, and how to best use threads and stabilizers. Eleven projects serve as practice for getting to know your machine"--Provided by publisher.

Learn to use all of the stitches that come with your sewing machine. Go past straight stitches and zigzags, and pump your quilts with surface design excitement. Appealing not only to the beginning quilter, this book will remind every quilter of all the choices available at her/his fingertips. Written for any brand of machine, Karen shows you how to use and manipulate those stitches to maximize surface embellishment. Practice on 12 small projects, then combine decorative stitch techniques to make two larger wallhangings.

Plan your path to leadership with insight from real women at the top In Real Women, Real Leadership, twenty-four women leaders describe their personal journeys to the top, providing deep insight and a fascinating perspective on "making it" as a woman in the male-dominated business environment. They discuss their experiences and offer guidance on topics such as balancing family and career, building alliances, mentoring and being mentored, and overcoming obstacles in the business world which is still dominated by men in the senior levels of management. Drawn from a range of industries including higher education, technology, law, the military, politics, the media, and more, these stories provide the details that every ambitious woman needs to know. You'll learn which skills, attributes, and relationships served these women best, how they overcame the obstacles thrown into their paths, and the people they credit as instrumental along the way. A self-assessment chapter helps you discover your own leadership attributes, and determine which skills you need to acquire as you formulate your own personal roadmap to the top. There are many books about women who have been excellent leaders, but Real Women, Real Leadership provides the personal, relatable testimonials from women who have navigated the opportunities and pitfalls of the business world. Each story sheds light on women's unique leadership attributes, and provides guidance for professional women charting their own professional advancement. Learn from women leaders in a diverse range of industries Discover the leadership attributes that make the biggest impact Gain insight into work/life balance, mentors, relationships, and more Discover your leadership strengths and develop a plan forward Studies have shown that companies with three or more women board members dramatically outperform the competition in returns on equity, sales, and invested capital — yet women only claim a tiny percentage of boardroom seats and top executive positions. Why? And why, when they do achieve leadership positions, do women tend to make such outstanding leaders? Real Women, Real Leadership tackles these questions and more from an in-the-trenches perspective to help you become the leader you want to be.

In Stitch and String Lab for Kids, art teacher and winner of the Netflix bake-off show Nailed It! Cassie Stephens presents 40+ inventive projects that explore everything from simple sewing, embroidery, and weaving to string art, needle felting, and yarn crafts. Stitch and String Lab for Kids leads children, step by step, through a huge range of sewing and fiber art projects. As they go, they will learn a variety of techniques, develop dexterity and coordination, and enjoy making a variety of creative projects. Kids will employ simple embroidery stitches to embellish a sun catcher, wall hangings, and an appliqué animal. Sewing projects include a drawstring bag, a sketchbook jacket, and custom plushies. Children will learn how to make custom looms to weave bookmarks, bracelets, and even a mini rag rug. They will also experiment with string art, needle felting, shibori dyeing, pompom animals, as well as finger knitting, yarn art, and cool wrapping projects. Each project includes a materials list and illustrated steps, and the book is filled with useful tips, tricks, and shortcuts. Stitch samplers will teach the basics, and templates are included for plushies and stuffies. Kids are encouraged to make variations and personalize the projects to their own style and personality. These 44 creative projects offer a broad and rich sampling of sewing, fabric, and fiber crafts—Stitch and String Lab for Kids is perfect for keeping kids busy with educational activities at home, learning techniques and experimenting at school, or having a ball at camps and parties. Parents, teachers, homeschoolers, and facilitators will appreciate the easy, illustrated instruction and the curriculum-friendly format, with projects that can be completed in any order. The popular Lab for Kids series features a growing list of books that share hands-on activities and projects on a wide host of topics, including art, astronomy, clay, geology, math, and even how to create your own circus—all authored by established experts in their fields. Each lab contains a complete materials list, clear step-by-step photographs of the process, as well as finished samples. The labs can be used as singular projects or as part of a yearlong curriculum of experiential learning. The activities are open-ended, designed to be explored over and over, often with different results. Geared toward being taught or guided by adults, they are enriching for a range of ages and skill levels. Gain firsthand knowledge on your favorite topic with Lab for Kids.

Create your own slice of the Big Apple with twenty colorful projects for knitters of all skill levels, from little characters to quirky accessories. Stitch New York: the knitty city that never stops stitching! Want a breakfast with Handmade Holly Golightly? Knit Feisty Fiber Firefighters? Or hail a Small Yellow Taxi that really rolls? From proud and purly Little Lady Liberty, to the Squishy Empire State, to the star-struck Broadway Beanie, Stitch New York is a melting pot of Big Apple knitting patterns. Can’t knit? Fuggedaboudit! We'll show you how and have you knitting in a New York minute. So hop in, cast on and lose your heart to the homemade metropolis of Stitch New York. Go on.

A Stitch in Time Set in the heart of North Yorkshire and incorporating local myths, legends, and historical facts, this is the fantasy story of John Twigg, a young man with everything to live for. But, despite a loving family and an adoring girlfriend, he makes the fatal error of falling under the spell of a beautiful upper-class girl. Unable to sustain his own anguish and unhappiness at his betrayal, he curses himself and is thrown back in time from 1999 to the year 1544 by a force that he cannot possibly comprehend. This first book in a trilogy is the story of his haunted childhood and sets the scene for his later epic struggle to return from the witch-infested late Tudor era where he is torn between two lives and loves... in different times in history. Intermixed with the evils of lust, hate and jealousy, John Twigg’s fight to return home will touch your heart and soul. Be very careful what you wish for in life... be very careful indeed!

What will it take for the American people to enact a more democratic version of themselves? How to better educate democratic minds and democratic hearts? In response to these crucial predicaments, this innovative book proposes that instead of ignoring or repressing the conflicted nature of American identity, these conflicts should be recognized as sites of pedagogical opportunity. Kerry Burch revives eight fundamental pieces of political public rhetoric into living artifacts, into provocative instruments of democratic pedagogy. From "The Pursuit of Happiness" to "The Military-Industrial Complex," Burch invites readers to encounter the fertile contradictions pulsating at the core of American identity, transforming this conflicted symbolic terrain into a site of pedagogical analysis and development. The learning theory embodied in the structure of the book breaks new ground in terms of deepening and extending what it means to "teach the conflicts" and invites healthy reader participation with America's defining civic controversies. The result is a highly teachable book in the tradition of A People's History of the United States and Lies My Teacher Told Me.