Handmade textiles are personal, no matter where in the world they're created, and these photos and explanations of 25 diverse world cultures' techniques vividly share the details. Take a voyage through these pages and see how today's artisans continue to create traditional fiber arts with age-old methods. Blending well-researched information, engaging style, and inspiration, the pages explore espadrilles, flatwoven rugs, mittens, voudou flags, mirror embroidery, and the histories they hold. This open-eyed approach will appeal to textile devotees, from the casually curious to professional artists, and to people who are interested in heritage crafts and diverse cultures. Brandon has written for more than a decade for WARP (Weave A Real Peace), anonprofit networking organization whose members are dedicated toimproving the quality of life of textile artisans in communities inneed.

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.

Fans of the Invisible String will love this story about a grandmother and granddaughter who must find different ways to stay connected even when they are far apart. A little girl is moving far away from Grandma. Neither wants to say goodbye. But when Grandma brings the girl into her sewing room, she shows her that they have the longest, strongest thread in the whole world to keep them connected. Full of hope and heart, this book reminds kids that family connections transcend physical separation, no matter how far apart we are.

Christians find themselves in an increasingly diverse world. The new place of worship in our neighborhood might just as likely be a Hindu temple or a Muslim mosque as a church or a synagogue. How should we view other world religions, and more important, how should we engage our religiously oriented neighbors in conversation? Do all religions teach the same thing? Or are there significant differences? Do we try to minimize differences and just get along? Or do we hold out the Christian faith as the one true hope for all the world? Drawing on his wide experience and knowledge of other religions and how they are actually lived, Winfried Corduan helps us sort through the complex tapestry of faiths around the globe. He contends that there are common threads of understanding that can serve to link us in meaningful discussion. From these common threads we can go on to explore genuine differences. Through the course of the book, Corduan leads readers to explore the important issues of revelation and truth, morality and guilt, grace and redemption, eschatology and hope. Ultimately, Jesus Christ, he argues, stands unique among religious figures and Christianity unique among the world's religions. This is a book that strengthens Christians in their convictions while encouraging them to engage their neighbors with humility, loved, and discernment.

Americans have been shocked by media reports of the dismal working conditions in factories that make clothing for U.S. companies. But while well intentioned, many of these reports about child labor and sweatshop practices rely on stereotypes of how Third World factories operate, ignoring the complex economic dynamics driving the global apparel industry. To dispel these misunderstandings, Jane L. Collins visited two very different apparel firms and their factories in the United States and Mexico. Moving from corporate headquarters to factory floors, her study traces the diverse ties that link First and Third World workers and managers, producers and consumers. Collins examines how the transnational economics of the apparel industry allow firms to relocate or subcontract their work anywhere in the world, making it much harder for garment workers in the United States or any other country to demand fair pay and humane working conditions. Putting a human face on globalization, Threads shows not only how international trade affects local communities but also how workers can organize in this new environment to more effectively demand better treatment from their distant corporate employers.

This essential book for all quilters and quilt collectors tells the fascinating story of quilting around the world, illuminated by the international quilt community’s top experts and more than 300 glorious color photographs. Covering Japan, China, Korea, and India; England, Ireland, France, and The Netherlands; Australia, Africa, Central America, North America, and beyond, Quilts Around the World explores both the diversity and common threads of quilting. Discover Aboriginal patchwork from Australia, intricate Rallis from the Middle East, Amish and Hawaiian quilts from the United States, Sashiko quilts from Japan, vivid Molas from Central America, and art quilts from every corner of the globe. Also included are twenty patchwork and applique patterns to use in your own quilt projects, inspired by designs from the world’s most striking quilts.

Don’t miss Ami Polonsky’s stunning new novel, World Made of Glass To Whom It May Concern: Please, we need help! The day twelve-year-old Clara finds a desperate note in a purse in Bellman's department store, she is still reeling from the death of her adopted sister, Lola. By that day, thirteen-year-old Yuming has lost hope that the note she stashed in the purse will ever be found. She may be stuck sewing in the pale pink factory outside of Beijing forever. Clara grows more and more convinced that she was meant to find Yuming's note. Lola would have wanted her to do something about it. But how can Clara talk her parents, who are also in mourning, into going on a trip to China? Finally the time comes when Yuming weighs the options, measures the risk, and attempts a daring escape. The lives of two girls -- one American, and one Chinese -- intersect like two soaring kites in this story about loss, hope, and recovery.