Fabric Dyeing day at C&T
One of the great things about working at C&T is that we try to find the time to “get our hands dirty” doing the things we publish books about—such as fabric dyeing. When I was working on my Fast, Fun & Easy® Fabric Dyeing book people kept telling me how fun it looked and how they really wanted to try dyeing fabric.
We scheduled an afternoon, the fabulous warehouse guys cleared out some space for us, and we set up tables for dyeing. I brought in the dyes and soda ash, and everyone who wanted to dye brought in fabric and t-shirts. After a quick introductory explanation, folks dived in and had a blast.
Getting started
Susanne painting dye on t-shirt
Adrianne admiring her work
Danielle and Kerry hard at work
Congratulations to Moira Sutton from Happy Daze in the UK – she’s the winner of our first 2009 Papercraft Challenge – all about projects for the New Year. Moira entered several lovely pieces that she created using a variety of Ready-To-Go!® Blank Board Products. Check her links in the comments of the original challenge post to see her blog with all her beautiful work!
Here are just a few samples…
"New Year's is a time for organizing...my Indie File Box is ready for 2009 projects."
"NY resolution #1 - redecorate my lounge"
Check out how Moira used her embellished Blank Board Blocks as visual reminders of her New Year’s resolutions.
She will receive a FABULOUS selection of papercrafting books and products from our Create & Treasure® line.
You could be our next big winner!
Watch for our next challenge to be announced next week – all about paper hearts for Valentine’s Day.
The winner for each challenge is drawn at random from all the entries—the more pieces you enter, the more chances to win!
Yay Moira!! Who’s next?
"NY resolution #2 - spend more time developing my artwork."
"NY resolution #3 - go somewhere hot for a holiday!"
Lynne Farris has authored three books for C&T: Fast, Fun & Easy® Needle Felting, Fresh Felt Flowers, and A Touch of Felt (out this month). We asked Lynne to tell us how she got her start.
“It all started with my grandmother, Adele McBurney Stubblefield. She was an incredibly talented, creative and resourceful woman who spent most of every day involved in some aspect of a sewing or needlework project. I spent countless hours perched by her side, with her stopping patiently to give me scraps of fabric to play with, while encouraging me to create for my little dolls miniature versions of the clothes she was making for us.
Felted bulletin board from A Touch of Felt
Those magical hours of fun and the gift of patient attention from my grandmother instilled in me a love of fabric, color and texture, confidence in my own creative instincts, and the curiosity to pursue fabric art throughout a very satisfying and multi-faceted career as an art teacher, toy and costume designer, author and fabric artist.
Continue Reading…
Judy Sisneros, author of 9-Patch Pizzazz and Rectangle Pizzazz, will be traveling at her own expense with fellow quilting teacher Susie Ernst to the Agape Restoration Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from Feb 6-26, 2009, as part of the 2009 Stitches of Hope Cambodia initiative. Judy and Susie will teach hand quilting to young girls who have been rescued from the slave trade.
New Skills to Help Former Slaves Become Self-Supporting
The program’s goal is to teach girls a skill that will enable them to earn money by making and selling hand-quilted pillows made with Cambodian silk fabrics. These girls also receive medical and emotional support to help them recover from their ordeal.
Continue Reading…
Publisher Amy Marson models her fiber scarf
A few years ago we published a book called All About Machine Arts from A to Z. I was the editor and it was my job to work with some of our industry partners to find and select material for the book. It’s a 256 page reference book and I learned so much about so many things as I was working on it. One of the things I learned about was water-soluble stabilizer. It’s commonly used for machine embroidery but it has other uses as well including making fiber scarves, thread lace, and thread bowls—which is something else I learned about while working on the book.
I often wear scarves to work and people often admire the fiber scarves that I’ve made. As the holiday season approached, I offered to teach a class at the office on making these scarves.
It’s really easy and can be done in a few hours. You need two pieces of water-soluble stabilizer that are the size you want your scarf to be. For example, for a scarf that is 6″ wide and 6 feel long, you need two pieces of stabilizer that size (or one piece that is 12″ wide that you fold over). If you want fringe, you just let your fibers hang off over the edges of the stabilizer. You can use any types of fiber that you like: yarn, ribbon, heavy thread, thin strips of fabric, you name it—use anything this is soft and will feel nice in a scarf. This is a good project to do in a group because you can share and trade fibers.
Here’s how to make a scarf:
- Place 1 piece of stabilizer on the table.
- Lay the fibers the length of the scarf. You can use a lot of fibers to make a thick scarf, or use fewer fibers to make a thinner scarf. You can place the fibers in a very orderly manner, or you can just let them wander and twist.
- After all the fibers are arranged to your liking, place the other piece of stabilizer on top (or if you have a wider piece of stabilizer, you can fold it in half).
- Pin it well to keep everything in place.
- Stitching is what holds everything in place. It’s best to start by stitching a grid—it’s essential that the stitching cross so be sure to stitch in at least 2 directions. It’s easiest to stitch the short way first, then stitch the long way. After you have a grid you can add more stitching if you like. I find it easiest to do free-motion stitching. The stitching doesn’t show much, so this is a good place to practice if you are new to free-motion.
- After stitching, place the scarf in warm water and soak and/or gently rub or agitate until the stabilizer is dissolved.
- Wrap the scarf in a towel to blot, then hang it to dry.
- Wear with pride, or give it as a gift.
Finished fiber scarves
As you have all heard, we are now selling eBooks! YAY! Yet there is even more good news. Now you can become an affiliate of ours and sell our eBooks on your website, blog, eNewsletter, or other online location.
It is super easy—all you have to do is sign up for paypal and email me, Ali Snow, at ctinfo@ctpub.com, and I will set you up. Earn 5% on every sale you make. We’ll shoot you an email when a new eBook is released.
I would be happy to assist you so feel free to leave a comment or email me with specific questions at ctinfo@ctpub.com. Also let me know what out-of-print books you can’t wait to download!
Sharyn Craig, author of Great Sets: 7 Roadmaps to Spectacular Quilts and co-author of The All-in-One Quilter’s Reference Tool and Piecing Tips & Tricks Tool, is retiring at the close of the Road to California quilt show this year. (The show runs January 15-18 in Ontario, CA). To celebrate 30 years of quilting, teaching, and lecturing, she’s giving a talk about her career at the show on January 17. In the talk, “Sharyn Craig’s Swan Song,” she’ll share quilts that span the years and some stories that will be sure to entertain. Register for the show and Sharyn’s talk here.
We’ll miss you, Sharyn!
The Quilters Hall of Fame headquarters
is hosting a quilt challenge as part of their 4-day Anniversary Celebration. The festivities and quilt showing will take place July 16–19 at their headquarters in Marion, Indiana.
To participate in the TQHF 2009 Quilt Challenge, select one of the Honorees of The Quilters Hall of Fame who has influenced you in some special way and interpret this influence in a new work. There are so many talented quilters to chose from, including C&T authors Barbara Brackman, Karey Bresenhan, Jean Ray Laury, and Yvonne Porcella. You can find a full list of honorees here.
Founder’s Purchase Award: Hazel Carter, the Founder of TQHF, will donate $500 as a purchase award for one quilt that best exemplifies the theme of this Challenge. The quilt will be a memento of our Triple Anniversary and will become a part of the permanent TQHF education collection.
Rules of Entry in Brief: Challenge open to all quilters age 18 and older; must be made by the person entering the challenge; must be no larger than 160″ total of all four sides and shall consist of three layers of textiles stitched together; photo and narrative must accompany the entry; Intent to Enter Form and fee is to be received by June 1, 2009. Complete entry instructions are available as a downloadable PDF or by writing for the complete Entry Form by sending your self-addressed stamped envelope to: TQHF 2009 Challenge, P.O. Box 681, Marion, IN, 46952. Please feel free to email quiltershalloffame@sbcglobal.net if you have any further questions once you’ve reviewed the registration form on the website.
Have you ever heard about a great book only to find that it is out of print, and you can’t find it anywhere? Well, this has happened to me on several occasions. I am an avid book reader and collector and just hate it when I hear about a book and can’t get my hands on it. Recently we featured a post on bringing out of print C&T titles back as electronic downloads (eBooks) that are viewable, printable PDFs.
I have a question for our blog readers. What C&T book would you like us to bring back as an ebook? And yes, this is definitely a popularity contest.
In the past year we have gotten requests for any out of print book by Elly Sienkiewicz, Symmetry and Pieced Flowers by Ruth B. McDowell and Jacobean Rhapsodies by Pat Campbell. Some of these are scheduled to be released early this year. So, if you are a wishing and hoping and praying to get your hands on an impossible to find C&T book, let me know by commenting on this post, and I’ll see what I can do!
Happy New Year!
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 ifs”, 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.
A creative person
Should not be made
To choose between
Her art
And another
Commitment.
If forced
To do so,
She will chose her art—
For to NOT
Would be to
Obliterate
Her soul.
