Yarn shop owner Kath Rutledge is looking forward to the grand opening of the Blue Plum Vault, a new co-op of small shops, but in the week before the grand opening, two of the new shopkeepers, Nervie and Belinda, declare each other’s embroidery patterns and antique embroidered linens fakes, copies—and stolen goods. Kath is caught in the middle when she’s asked to use her textile expertise to decide if there’s any truth to the accusations.Then, the day before the grand opening, an exquisite tablecloth that Kath has fallen in love with—the pride of Belinda’s shop—is found cut to shreds. Belinda accuses Nervie of the outrage, but Nervie has an airtight alibi: she was at Kath’s shop, the Weaver’s Cat, teaching a crewel embroidery class.Despite worries over the rivalry and vandalism, the opening is a success—until Belinda is found dead, stabbed in the back with a pair of scissors from the Weaver’s Cat. Geneva, the ghost who haunts Kath’s store, claims she saw the murderer leaving the scene of the crime. But the ghost is the ultimate unreliable witness—only Kath and her shop manager can see or hear her. That means it’s up to Kath, TGIF, and especially Geneva the ghost to solve the crime before the killer cuts another life short.

Deadly Secrets Tangled Lies Woven truths Incapable. Awkward. Artless. That's what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: She wants to fail. Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she's exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen to work the looms is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality. But if controlling what people eat, where they live, and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn't interested. Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and used her hidden talent for a moment. Now she has one hour to eat her mom's overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister's academy gossip and laugh at her dad's jokes. One hour to pretend everything's okay. And one hour to escape. Because tonight, they'll come for her.

In an expensive London restaurant Julia Lovat receives a gift that will change her life. It appears to be a book of exquisite 17th-century embroidery patterns but on closer examination Julia finds it also contains faint diary entries. In these, Cat Tregenna, an embroideress, tells how she and others were stolen out of a Cornish church in 1625 by Muslim pirates and taken on a brutal voyage to Morocco to be auctioned off as slaves. Captivated by this dramatic discovery, Julia sets off to North Africa to determine the authenticity of the book and to uncover more of Cat’s story. There, in the company of a charismatic Moroccan guide, amid the sultry heat, the spice markets, and exotic ruins, Julia discovers buried secrets. And in Morocco – just as Cat did before her – she loses her heart. Almost 400 years apart, the stories of the two women converge in an extraordinary and haunting manner that will make readers wonder – is history fated to repeat itself?

Whether you refer to it as crewel or Jacobean, this free form of surface embroidery has been around for centuries and is still popular amongst needle artists today. Because of the nature of the fanciful objects and the tradition of using a large variety of stitches in one project, it lends itself to endless creative expression. In this book Hazel Blomkamp uses a wide selection of materials to update techniques and inspire embroiderers to explore whilst working loosely within the confines of crewel work styles. She shows needle artists how to be creative with fabric, threads, beads and alternative stitches, borrowing techniques from other forms of needlework, and still producing a product that is typical of the crewel or Jacobean style of embroidery.The original designs include: Projects including beads and metal threads to add sparkle and texture to your work. Monochrome embroidery making use of a variety of threads and beads, all within the same colour range. Techniques employed in needle-made laces with designs defined by means of texture. More traditional embroidery including shading and satin stitch and the many variations of trellis couching to provide texture and interest. The completed embroideries are displayed in ways that are not only decorative, but are useful in the home.

One look at these pages and you know that this isn't your grandmother's crewel, but a hip, contemporary update that will have everyone reaching for a needle and thread. And these projects are easy, too, because crewel has no counting, no grids, and no cross-stitch--just beautiful free-form embroidery. Dive right in, guided by a basics chapter that explains how to do the different stitches, ranging from French knots to laid filling. Novices will swiftly move on to the 30 practice designs, all accompanied by easy-to-follow instructions and diagrams, and a dozen lovely projects. Make a card or keepsake scrapbook embellished with stitched motifs, colorful totes, table runners, and an elegant tryptich.