Can they find a way to stitch their suffering into hope and embrace an uncertain future? Tally Smucker's quiet life of reading and quilting hides her sorrow over her mother's declining health and the lack of a fulfilling future for herself. When her daily life is shaken by her free-spirited neighbor Danielle--who grew up Plain but joined the Army at eighteen--Tally's instinct is to distance herself. Yet she finds she can't turn away when Danielle's brother, Kenan, specifically asks for her help. She invites Danielle to visit Plain Patterns quilt shop with her, where the story of the plight of a WWI soldier and the girl he left behind resonates with both Tally and Danielle, but for different reasons. When Tally's mother suffers a setback at the same time Danielle's PTSD becomes unmanageable, it seems Tally's efforts to aid them only make things worse. Can the soldier's story, along with the care of Kenan, help Tally accept the hope that waits just around the corner? From the talented pen of Leslie Gould comes a moving tale of restoration and renewed hope within the Amish community.

This book tells the story of ordinary women living in terror and extreme poverty under General Pinochet's oppressive rule in Chile (1973-89) and how their lives did and did not change following his reign. These women defied the military dictatorship by embroidering their sorrow on scraps of cloth and using their needles and thread as one of the boldest means of popular protest and resistance in Latin America. The arpilleras they made - patch-work tapestries with scenes of everyday life and memorials to their disappeared relatives - were smuggled out of Chile and brought to the world the story of their fruitless searches in jails, morgues, government offices, and the tribunals of law for their husbands, brothers, and sons. Marjorie Agosin, herself a native of and exile from Chile, has spent over twenty years interviewing the arpilleristas and following their work. She knows their stories intimately and knows, too, that not one of them has ever found a disappeared relative alive. Still, many of them maintain hope and continue to make their arpilleras. Even though the dictatorship ended in 1989 and democracy returned to Chile, no full account of the detained and disappeared has ever been offered. This book includes a history of the women's movement, testimonies from the women in their own words, and, for the first time, full color plates of their beautiful, moving, and ultimately hopeful arpilleras. Anyone interested in the history of contemporary Latin America will want to read this powerful story.

I am so very humbled by the life in which I am living, because I know the devastation, & destruction it has taken to get to where I am today, but I also feel accomplished to a certain degree, knowing that life doesn't have to stay the way it has always been.What I hope to gain by sharing my thoughts, is that my words can give hope to those whom have also been at rock bottom, battled their inner demons, or drawn the short end of the stick in life - and for them to know that life doesn't always have to be that way, that we hold within ourselves, the power to turn it all around...Though, in order for there to be change, one must first face, all that is feared to be seen, but all that is ugly through accepting harsh truths of your own reality is the path to your healing journey - which in the end, can be, such a messy, yet beautiful thing.

Passed over for promotion and dumped by her boyfriend, Nina O’Malley is further frustrated when her editor assigns her one of the “soft” stories she despises—covering a gala benefit supporting the AIDS Memorial Quilt. More determined than ever to prove she deserves a promotion to the NY office, Nina decides to write a series featuring a local quilting group raising money for AIDs research At the event, she runs into her high school nemesis: Greg is a widower and the adoptive father of Jazarah, an HIV positive girl from Ethiopia. Unlike Nina, Greg has faith in a loving God, and he trusts in God’s plan for his life Greg and Nina grow closer, and as Nina interviews the quilt families, she begins to question the choices she has made and her lack of faith. Nina suddenly finds herself facing two possible dreams, two paths for her life.

Kristin Eikaas has her hopes set on a new life in America. But will family opposition threaten to derail hernewfound love?

On 1st October 2012, April Jones, aged 5, was abducted from outside her home in the small Welsh market town of Machynlleth. This led to the largest police search operation of its kind ever conducted in the UK, and a subsequent murder investigation and trial which was scrutinised by the international media. This book uses a collaborative narrative research process to explore the lived experiences of one specific group of community members who responded to this event by setting up, and running, a therapeutic project to support the community between 2012 and 2014. The author weaves together threads of the story taken from her own ethnographic journal, and co-researcher accounts, together with community updates taken from press releases and academic theory, to create an evocative narrative account that will enable readers to understand what it may be like to be involved in a therapeutic project of this kind. The book highlights some of the challenges and offers suggestions for community leaders, therapeutic practitioners and critical incident planners who may be considering setting up support in response to community trauma.

This globe-spanning history of sewing and embroidery, culture and protest, is “an astonishing feat . . . richly textured and moving” (The Sunday Times, UK). In 1970s Argentina, mothers marched in headscarves embroidered with the names of their “disappeared” children. In Tudor, England, when Mary, Queen of Scots, was under house arrest, her needlework carried her messages to the outside world. From the political propaganda of the Bayeux Tapestry, World War I soldiers coping with PTSD, and the maps sewn by schoolgirls in the New World, to the AIDS quilt, Hmong story clothes, and pink pussyhats, women and men have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. Threads of Life is a chronicle of identity, memory, power, and politics told through the stories of needlework. Clare Hunter, master of the craft, threads her own narrative as she takes us over centuries and across continents—from medieval France to contemporary Mexico and the United States, and from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland—to celebrate the universal beauty and power of sewing.

Do Spirit Animals really exist?Bundled up for a walk on a wintery New England morning, husband and dogs in tow, Judith Cosby crosses paths with an extraordinary creature - a wild red fox. In an instant, a mystical connection is formed that will soothe her soul in ways she could never have imagined.That same winter, Judith's youngest daughter, Cate, begins a yearlong battle toward remission of a debilitating illness. Feelings of helplessness, despair, and loneliness plague the Cosby household. Difficult treatments and multiple hospitalizations test their resolve and their relationships. But along the way, Judith discovers that humor, love, and faith are the only ways to reach her heart's desire... the simplicity of ordinary days and the pleasures encompassed in a happy and healthy home.With a story that spans four seasons, Spirit Threads is the follow-on to Judith's debut novel, Threads. In this new memoir, she chronicles a personal journey of love and spirituality, and how the challenges of illness and hope have added their threads to the tapestry of her life. As the seasons change, she discovers how her relationship with the wild red fox named Reddy Girl teaches her that inner strength is just as formidable as outer strength, that hope and faith are required to survive the darkest days, and most importantly, that we are never truly alone.Spirit Threads shares the message that regardless of the struggle, we all need the support and love of one another to walk the difficult roads. And the friendships needed to survive the journey don't necessarily have to be human.For some, spirit animals do exist.....

It's 1910, and thirteen-year-old Raisa has just traveled alone from a small Polish shtetl all the way to New York City. It's overwhelming, awe-inspiring, and even dangerous, especially when she discovers that her sister has disappeared and she must now fend for herself. She finds work in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory sewing bodices on the popular shirtwaists. Raisa makes friends and even-dare she admit it?- falls in love. But then 1911 dawns, and one March day a spark ignites in the factory. One of the city's most harrowing tragedies unfolds, and Raisa's life is forever changed. . . . One hundred years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, this moving young adult novel gives life to the tragedy and hope of this transformative event in American history.

Deepen and enliven your yoga practice with 30 themes based on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that can inspire on and off the mat. Yoga draws many practitioners because of its physical benefits, but it is often the experience of peace that people return for. Threads of Yoga supports those seeking to learn more about yoga’s deeper spiritual teachings. Each short chapter introduces a foundational yogic theme, such as letting go, the breath, the yamas and the niyamas, and the chakra system. Each theme is accompanied by practices, including meditation, complementary poses, breath work, or quotes to contemplate. It is an ideal guide for both practitioners and teachers who want to connect with the spiritual wisdom of yoga, deepen their personal practice, or develop and support a theme for yoga class.