C&T Publishing Blog

Winners of the Kaleidoscope Kreator 3 & Innovative Fabric Imagery for Quilts Giveaway

Tristan Gallagher — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:30:20 +0000

The two lucky winners of the Kaleidoscope Kreator 3 & Innovative Fabric Imagery for Quilts Giveaway are…

I would use it to make Priority Quilts for the Alzheimer’s Quilt Initiative — my favorite charity.

I’d like to do something with butterflies. I have been photographing them in our garden.

Thank you so much to everyone who left comments here and on Facebook. If your haven’t already, be sure to check out the next giveaway posted this morning.

Paula Nadelstern Kaleidoscope Collection Giveaway

Danielle Dews — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:00:52 +0000

Paula Nadelstern’s latest book Kaleidoscope Quilts—The Workbook teaches you exactly how to make those stunning kaleidoscope blocks of hers that have graced the walls of the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. This book introduces 22.5° wedges, which are her narrowest wedges yet, and includes twelve projects, which is more than in any of her other books. It hits store shelves this month which has inspired this week’s blog giveaway.

The Kaleidoscope Collection Giveaway includes:

Check out these beautifully intricate blocks from Kaleidoscope Quilts—The Workbook.

Three lucky people will win this collection and to be in the running all you have to do is leave a comment here or on Facebook telling us about a quilt or quilter you think should be honored with placement in a museum exhibit. Comments will be closed at 9am PST on Monday, September 20th, 2010 and three lucky winners will be announced later that day.

Extra comment entries are available to you if you want to maximize your chances at being the giveaway winner! If you take one or more of the actions listed below, enter an extra comment for each, and in that comment tell us what you did and link to the proof where that’s possible.

Place one of our blog badges on your personal blog (make sure it includes the html code that links it to our blog)
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Tweet a link to the giveaway & mention our twitter username @ctpublishing

Ruffled Lutradur Embellishments

Sue Astroth — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 14:31:16 +0000

When I was working on the over-the-top top hat project last Halloween, I played with some Lutradur^® to see if I could make some embellishments. I had heard about the material before, but never had the chance to “play” with any.

I checked out Lesley Riley’s book Fabulous Fabric Art with Lutradur and was amazed at what she created using the flexible material. Wow—it really was easy to cut, and even more fun to melt! I had a vision of something three-dimensional and was able to create a ruffle with just a little preparation. Here is how I did it….

First, cut a 3” strip of Lutradur.
Then sew a gathering stitch down the middle of the strip (I used blue here just so you could see the stitching).
Tie the threads in a knot on one end of the Lutradur to hold the soon-to-be gathers in place.
From the other end of the strip, start gathering up the material.
To hold the gathers in place on this end, I placed a pin and wrapped the thread around it in a figure 8 pattern. Now for the fun part…..
Using a heat or embossing tool, start heating the gathered Lutradur. BE patient….It takes a few minutes for the material to start melting. For better control over the results, move the heat tool back and forth, stopping and starting the tool till you have the result you want.

If you want a longer ruffle, overlap the ends of your sheets of Lutradur by 1/2″ – 1″ as you are sewing your gathering stitch.

Since I was just creating a sample of how to create a ruffle for this blog post, the sewing machine gathering stitch worked just fine. If I was going to create a very long ruffle, I would probably create my gathering stitches by stitching a long zig-zag stitch over a very strong cord so it would not break as I was manipulating the Lutradur into the ruffle I wanted.

Now that you have finished your ruffle, you can paint the piece or add other embellishments, beads or pearls for a little extra wow!

Now that Ultra-Light Lutradur is available, I’d love to see it used for this technique. Lacy ruffles sound sublime!

Everyday Inspiration

Diane Pedersen — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 14:21:51 +0000

A creative life is filled with challenges and rewards, puzzles and curiosities. This ongoing series of poems attempts to express the “Aha”s and “What if”s, the deep ponderings and casual observations of an inquiring mind trying to make sense of reality. May it serve, for you, as a bit of “Everyday Inspiration” along your own creative path.

Never

Underestimate

The power

Of making

Something

Easier—

The result

Will be

Joyful satisfaction

And

Lack of resistance

Towards

Doing it

Again!

Summer Sizzler Warehouse Sale

Danielle Dews — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:33:54 +0000

On Saturday, September 11th we will be holding our 8th Annual Summer Sizzler Warehouse Sale, here at C&T Publishing headquarters in sunny Concord, California (map). The event will be open to resellers from 9am – 11am, and open to everyone from 11am – 3pm.

There will be some awesome deals to be had on overstocked books, patterns, magazines and more. There will be over 170 titles for sale.

A special addition to this year’s Warehouse Sale line up are the creative demos we’ll have going on all day. The demos will feature some of our newest products—the Liquitex^® Surface Design Center, TAP^®Transfer Artist Paper, Lutradur^® Mixed Media Sheets, and more. The best part is that when you watch a demo, you’ll get a coupon for a special cash-n-carry discount on the featured product.

Can’t make it to our warehouse to shop in person? No worries – you can shop our Summer Sizzler Sale online all weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 11-12, and get the same great deals. The coupons for watching demos won’t be available though – we aren’t posting those online, I’m afraid.

Meet Insul-Fleece

Danielle Dews — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:15:54 +0000

We have a hot new product called Insul-Fleece™, a metalized mylar insulated interfacing that comes as a 27″ x 45″ cut in a Craft Pack.

It’s easy to sew through and you can machine wash and tumble dry with no bunching. And with just one craft pack you can make a whole lunch bag, several pot holders, or two of the below handy, dandy Christmas Casserole Carriers featured in Christmas with Possibilities by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith. To get your Insul-Fleece experience underway (as well as get you started on your holiday crafting nice and early this year), read on for the Casserole Carrier project.

This Casserole Cozy fits an 8" x 8" dish

Holly Casserole Carrier

by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith

Materials and Yardage

Yardage is based on fabric that is at least 42″ wide.

Prewash fabric and Insul-Fleece so carrier will fit after laundering.

Fabric: 1 1/8 yards
Insul-Fleece: 1 square 15″ x 15″
Heavy cardboard: 1 square 7¼” x 7¼”, 4 pieces 2″ x 7¼”

Cutting Fabric

Base: 1 square 15″ x 15″ and 1 square 14″ x 14″
Center Pocket: 1 piece 9″ x 9½”
Side pockets: 4 pieces 6″ x 9″
Ties: 8 pieces 1½” x 12″

Directions

Use 1/4˝ seam allowance unless otherwise noted.

1. Layer in order and pin: Insul-Fleece square, 15˝ × 15˝ fabric square right side up, and 14˝ × 14˝ fabric square right side down, and centered.

2. Stitch around the smaller square with a 3⁄8 ˝ seam allowance, leaving 4˝ open on one side for turning. Trim the large square even with the small square. Clip the corners, and turn through the opening so the Insul-Fleece is sandwiched between the fabric layers. Press. Pin the opening closed, and topstitch very close to the entire outside edge of the carrier.

3. Lightly mark a diagonal 2˝ grid on the outside of the carrier, and machine quilt on the lines.

4. Mark the fold lines on the inside of the carrier 21⁄2˝ from each side.

5. To hem one 9˝ side of the center pocket piece: Press 1⁄2 ˝ to the wrong side, then press 1⁄2 ˝ to the wrong side again. Stitch close to the fold. The pocket should measure 81⁄2˝ high by 9˝ wide.

6. Place the pocket wrong side down on the inside of the carrier, matching the hemmed edge with one marked fold line. Tuck under and pin 3 raw edges to meet the marked fold lines on the carrier. Press the pocket. Stitch the pinned edges very close to the folds.

7. Press the ties in half lengthwise, wrong sides together. Unfold. Press the long raw edges in to meet the pressed line. Fold in one end, then refold along the center line. Stitch across the end and along the double-folded edge.

8. Press the side pockets in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, to 3˝ × 9˝. Place one side pocket on the side of the carrier with the fold next to the edge of the center pocket. Tuck under and pin the 3 raw edges to meet the marked fold lines and on the outside edge of the carrier. Press the pocket. Repeat for the other 3 side pockets.

9. Tuck the raw end of a tie under the corner of the side pocket at each corner of the carrier. Pin in place. Stitch the pinned edges of the pockets, catching the ties in the stitching.

10. Trim the cardboard pieces slightly, if necessary, to fit the pockets. Slide the cardboard into the pockets. Fold up the sides of carrier, and tie each corner in a bow.

Staff Pick: Jane Dávila’s Surface Design Essentials

Megan Scott — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:20:52 +0000

There was a point in my life when I never thought I would be comfortable with the words “surface design.” For some reason the term carried a scary, intimidating and unachievable connotation to me. Turns out, I was being pretty silly. Surface design is totally achievable, easy, forgiving, but most of all FUN! What turned my opinion around? Jane Dávila’s Surface Design Essentials.

In preparing for the launch of the Liquitex® Surface Design Center, we had several staff training sessions where we practiced techniques from Jane’s book. There are 15 techniques in the book, and I can honestly say I can do them all, but of course I have my favorites.

One of the techniques is called sunprinting. It is so easy and I was so thrilled with the results. I don’t want to give too much away, but lets just say it involves laying your project in the sun and watching it transform with unique designs. I also loved working with the Derwent Inktense pencils, which are water-soluble and as vibrant as ink. Its like painting with pencils.

What I love most about Jane Dávila’s Surface Design Essentials is the license it gives you to play, experiment, get dirty, and not worry about messing up or being perfect. Its not every day we get to approach a project without expectations and pressure to achieve perfect results. Surface design lets you do that and it feels GREAT!

Visit ExploreSurfaceDesign.com to see all the products we have to accompany you on surface design adventure, and click here to find a shop near you that carries the Liquitex® Surface Design Center.

Lutradur Calling Card Case

Tristan Gallagher — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:00:45 +0000

This stylish calling card case created by Creative Troupe member Diane Knoblauch makes a thoughtful and one-of-a-kind gift. Diane layered Lutradur^® over silk for a delicate and artistic look, but because of Lutradur’s strong fabric-like quality, it is sure to hold up as it slides in and out of pockets.

Lutradur Calling Card Case

designed by Diane Knoblauch

Materials

Lutradur^®Mixed Media Sheets
silk fabric
Acrylic paint, such as Liquitex^®
Spray gold mist
Heat tool (optional)

Instructions:

Cut Lutradur and silk fabric to desired shape and size.
Paint Lutradur with acrylic paint.
Overspray with gold mist, allow to dry.
Sew or quilt the Lutradur to the silk using desired stitch style.
Using heat tool, carefully heat/melt textual holes into the Lutradur.
Sew button hole.
Fold over and sew around all edges using a satin stitch.
Sew button on.

The perfect companion gift to this Lutradur card case is Calling Cards – Connect with Style. But by simply altering the dimensions and color it could be tailored to other needs, such as a business card holder, or gift card holder. Read on for project instructions.

Everyday Inspiration

Diane Pedersen — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:43:50 +0000

We do—

What we

Make time

For.

Are you

Making time

For the most important

Things

In your

Life?

Feeling crafty, feeling better

Amy Marson — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 14:33:29 +0000

I was feeling down because I had been sick and had not felt good enough to be creative in a few months. I was looking through a bag of papers and other stuff from Quilt Market in May and I came across this wonderful Our Lady of Guadalupe fabric that I had bought. At first I could not figure out what to do with it, I wanted to make something for my Mom, but was stumped. I even considered making a doll and I really don’t like dolls.

Then it hit me! Face one panel either way and call it a table runner. So I took the fabric that I got and combined it with some solid strips from Robert Kaufman and made a delightful runner. I even stitched on a four milagros for good luck. It was super easy and I got it done in an afternoon.

It is such fun when inspiration hits and you take off running. And the best part was that after making it I felt even better. I got to get creating again, and that put a big smile on my face.