Tattered and Mended: The Art of Healing the Wounded Soul

by Cynthia Ruchti

Overview

Artisans can reclaim exquisite beauty from the broken, frayed, and hopefully shattered—perhaps once thought beyond repair. But what about us? What of the wounds that keep us from living the life we want to live? In Tattered and Mended, readers walk through a gallery of reclaimed and restored art as well as broken and restored lives of those who have gone before us. With a gentle touch and personable wisdom, Cynthia Ruchti shows how even the most threadbare soul can once again find healing and hope.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781426787690
Publisher:	Abingdon Press
Publication date:	07/07/2015
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	707,406
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in hope. She’s the award-winning author of 16 books and a frequent speaker for women’s ministry events. She serves as the Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers, where she helps retailers, libraries, and book clubs connect with the authors and books they love. She lives with her husband in Central Wisconsin. Visit her online at CynthiaRuchti.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 The Art of Mending the Soul 1

Chapter 2 Sashiko and Boro Rescue: Elegance from the Tattered 17

Chapter 3 Quilt Reconstruction: An Artful Mend 37

Chapter 4 Metal Recycling: From Dumpster to Gallery 51

Chapter 5 Tapestry Restoration: Beauty in the Ragged 67

Chapter 6 Fine Art Reclamation: A Meticulous Mend 81

Chapter 7 Needlework Repair: Recaptured Wholeness 93

Chapter 8 Stained Glass Recovery: Starting Out Shattered 115

Chapter 9 Antique Doll Redemption: The Designer's Touch 131

Chapter 10 Broken Furniture Refurbishing: Pre-Art 145

Chapter 11 Jewelry Regeneration: Unfixable but Mendable 157

Beyond the End:

As You Mend 179

Mending Prayers 181

Stretching to Mend 185

With Deepest Gratitude 189

Notes 191

Editorial Reviews

06/08/2015
Ruchti writes comfortingly and often beautifully about the aches and pains of everyday life, with its sicknesses, disappointments, and consequences of poor choices. She counsels repair by God, likening God to an artist working with broken pieces that can be restored. That master conceit ties together the chapters, which touch on various art conservation and restoration practices—Japanese sashiko mending, antique doll repair, quilt reconstruction, and other techniques—to develop her central theme of faith as an agent of healing. Ruchti also weaves in stories drawn from her own and others’ lives to illustrate divine care. Ruchti’s prose can sing (“Sorrow creates its own poverty”), and she is blessedly free of self-help platitudes. The final chapters offer some self-help exercises. Her devotional may not convince those without reasonably strong faith to begin with, but for people of faith, it offers consolation when needed. Agent: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly