Welcome to structured improvisation, where there's a plan in place...but still plenty of room to play! Learn three methods for sewing together rectangles, squares, strips, and even the tiniest fabric scraps to create new yardage; then use the resulting scrappy fabrics in a dozen dazzling step-by-step quilt patterns. Start by working with just one color at a time to get the hang of improv piecing. Soon you'll progress to mixing colors and prints in scrap-packed quilts that will give a happy home to every piece of fabric you've ever saved!

Karen Carpenter was the instantly recognisable lead singer of the Carpenters. The top-selling American musical act of the 1970s, they delivered the love songs that defined a generation. Karen's velvety voice on a string of 16 consecutive Top 20 hits from 1970 to 1976 – including Close to You, We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days and Mondays, Superstar, and Hurting Each Other – propelled the duo to worldwide stardom and record sales of over 100 million. Karen's musical career was short – only 13 years. During that time, the Carpenters released 10 studio albums, toured more than 200 days a year, taped five television specials, and won three Grammys and an American Music Award. But that's only part of Karen's story. As the world received news of her death at 32 years of age in 1983, she became the proverbial poster child for anorexia nervosa. Little Girl Blue is an intimate profile of Karen Carpenter, a girl from a modest Connecticut upbringing who became a Superstar. Based on exclusive interviews with nearly 100 friends and associates, including record producers, studio musicians, songwriters, television directors, photographers, radio personalities, classmates, childhood friends, neighbours, personal assistants, romantic interests, hairdressers, and housekeepers.'...thorough and affectionate biography of a singer who's been constantly undervalued by the music industry.' MOJO 'Schmidt cannot be faulted... carefully factual, sensitively pitched book.' The Word 'The first truly convincing account of her nightmarish story.' The Guardian

In the small mining village of Meryen, a dark secret lurks... Amy Lewarne finds her life changed forever when she finds her brother, Toby, dead – and trouble follows when Titus Kivell, the head of a powerful yet belligerent family, puts his son Sol in Toby's place. Despite his wild and formidable nature, Amy is inexplicably drawn to Sol, as he is to her. But will his family ties be the ruin of her? Book One in the Meryen series – a Cornish saga perfect for fans of Poldark, Dilly Court and Val Wood Note: previously published as Keeping Echoes

A Carpenter's Daughter is the story of the difficulties and rewards of the educational system for one who was not meant to go through it. The single most reliable predictor of whether someone will earn a BA is whether at least one of their parents has one-yet, today, there are an increasing number of first-generation college students. A Carpenter's Daughter is both a memoir of the author's experiences growing up, going to school, and becoming an academic and a thoughtful commentary on the meaning of class in American culture. By connecting her own story with ideas from scholarly works on class and identity, Christopher shows how her individual experiences reflect common struggles that people of working-class background face when their education, profession, income, and lifestyles change. This work reminds us forcefully that "moving up" isn't necessarily good and that changing one's class isn't as simple as going to class or even becoming the teacher of the class.--Sherry Linkon, author of Teaching Working Class The work is stellar, merging the tangled and complex webs of social mobility through education in ways that leave lots of loose ends dangling just the way it should. No pretty bows adorning carefully wrapped packages here. No straight and narrow trajectory toward a mainstream version of success. Instead, readers will be pulled along by nuanced narratives portraying the warped nature of society's construction of success and a careful crafting of the book in its entirety as a disjointed text presenting shards of a life that can never be visible in a tidied-up tale.--Stephanie Jones, University of Georgia

"Alison Gopnik, a ... developmental psychologist, [examines] the paradoxes of parenthood from a scientific perspective"--

Add to your quilting repertoire with the universally popular plus sign! These 16 bold, graphic designs range from modern to traditional, with something for every skill level and style. Detailed instructions and illustrations walk confident beginners and intermediate quilters through traditional piecing, paper piecing, and fusible machine appliqué to create baby quilts, throw quilts, bed quilts, and more. Use your favorite types of fabric—solids, prints, precuts, or scraps—to make the projects your own.

Family, friendship, and the spirit of giving are at the heart of this inspiring picture book. Opening in Depression-era New York, The Carpenter's Gift tells the story of eight-year-old Henry and his out-of-work father selling Christmas trees in Manhattan. They give one of their leftover trees to construction workers building Rockefeller Center. That tree becomes the first Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, the finest Henry has seen when adorned with homemade decorations. Henry wishes on the tree for a nice, warm house to replace his family's drafty, one-room shack. Through the kindness of new friends and old neighbors, Henry's wish is granted, and he plants a pinecone to commemorate the event. As an old man, Henry repays the gift by donating to Rockefeller Center the enormous tree that has grown from that pinecone. After bringing joy to thousands as a beautiful Christmas tree, its wood will be used to build a home for a family in need. Written by children's nonfiction author David Rubel, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, The Carpenter's Gift features charming, full-color illustrations by Jim LaMarche.

In this tempestuous novel, Liz and Paul, the occupants of Carpenter s Gothic do battle with the Reverend Ude to preserve the African mission on which they live.

Introduction by Richard Carpenter The definitive biography of one of the most enduring and endeared recording artists in history—the Carpenters—is told for the first time from the perspective of Richard Carpenter, through more than 100 hours of exclusive interviews and some 200 photographs from Richard's personal archive, many never published. After becoming multimillion-selling, Grammy-winning superstars with their 1970 breakthrough hit "(They Long to Be) Close to You," Richard and Karen Carpenter would win over millions of fans worldwide with a record-breaking string of hits including "We've Only Just Begun," "Top of the World," and "Yesterday Once More." By 1975, success was taking its toll. Years of jam-packed work schedules, including hundreds of concert engagements, proved to be just too much for the Carpenters to keep the hits coming—and, ultimately, to keep the music playing at all. However, Richard and Karen never took their adoring public, or each other, for granted. In Carpenters: The Musical Legacy, Richard Carpenter tells his story for the first time. With candor, heart, and humor, he sheds new light on the Carpenters' trials and triumphs—work that remains the gold standard for melodic pop. This beautifully illustrated definitive biography, with exclusive interviews and never-before-seen photographs, is a must-have for any Carpenters fan.