Monthly Archives: March 2009

Weekly Giveaway: Inchie Ruler Tape

March 12th, 2009 in Contests
By Blog Admin

I got my first opportunity to use our new Inchie Ruler Tape in a class with our own Liz Aneloski. I was making a wallhanging for my boyfriend and the project required decorative stitching to finish the piece.

Well, the thought of that made me want to shelve the project as I’d not only need to stitch in a straight line, but the stitches would need to be evenly spaced (both of which are huge challenges for me). Then someone handed me a piece of Inchie Ruler Tape and off I went! The ruler tape took all the guess-work out of it and I was able to stitch with confidence. I ended up using the heck out of that one piece of ruler tape (it’s kind of like stick ‘em notes – you can remove it, and use it again). I also used it to center lettering and embellishments on a birthday card I made for a friend, and (most amusing to my co-workers), I put it on the edge of a cutting board to make perfect slices of a pound cake I baked for a party!

In a word, this stuff is FABULOUS! The repositionable adhesive strips are marked in 1/4″ increments, which makes measuring easy, and it’s safe to use on fabric. A package contains 80 – 1″ by 11″ rulers, so it’s also a great value. Inchie Ruler Tape was inspired by Charlotte Warr Andersen’s new book, One Line at a Time, so it’s perfect for aligning machine-quilting designs and hand-quilting stitches, as well as placement and alignment of papercrafting elements, buttons and buttonholes, embroidery, beadwork, and even stencils and faux painting patterns.

It’s rare that I get excited about a product, but I know that once you get the chance to use our Inchie Ruler Tape, you, too, will be singing its’ praises. If you’d like a chance at winning a free pack of Inchie Ruler Tape, simply post a comment telling us what your greatest creative challenge is. On Monday morning (March 16), we’ll pick one commenter at random and announce the winner later that day. Good luck!

*Note: Comments will be closed on Monday, March 16, at 9am PST

The Examiner Interviews Jan Krentz

March 11th, 2009 in News & Events
By Megan Scott

Kelly Smith, writer for The Examiner recently published a two part, in depth interview on Jan Krentz. Its a great, behind the scenes look at an award winning quilter. Click here to read part one and here for part two. Jan Krentz has three new releases this spring. They include Quick Star Quilts & Beyond, Quilter’s Design Mirrors, and fast2cut® Half- & Quarter-Diamind Ruler Set.

Quilting Tips: Simple Y-Seam Construction

March 11th, 2009 in Quilting Tips Series
By The Tech Editors

te_header

Y-seam construction is used when 3 seams meet in 1 place in the quilt block, forming a “Y”. The example below includes 2 diamond shapes and a triangle which is sewn to each diamond.

1. Mark small dots at the seam line corners on all 3 pieces to be joined.

Mark dots.

2. Pin and stitch the first seam, stopping your stitches just before entering the dot, and then backstitching. Stitch up to the dot, as close to it as possible. (Make your stitch length smaller, if necessary.) Open the pieces. Finger press the seam allowance away from the seam of the next piece to be added.

Pin and stitch.

3. To join the third piece, line up the corner dots and stitch as before, backstitching before entering the dot. Do not stitch into the previous seam allowance. Open the pieces.

Pin and stitch.

4. Stitch the remaining seam, ending just short of the dot at the “Y”. Open and press.

From Mastering Precision Piecing

This method is described in Mastering Precision Piecing, by Sally Collins.

- From the Tech Editors

Canvas Art Book

March 11th, 2009 in Free Projects, Surface Design & Mixed Media
By Tristan Gallagher

canvas-book1

If you missed Rebekah Meier‘s Canvas Art Book at CHA, here it is! By applying her talents as a mixed-media artist and designer to our Ready-to-Go!® Blank Canvas Book 7” x 8” she has created this beautiful Canvas Book that would warm anyones heart. The golden layers are so yummy and blend beautifully.
Continue Reading…

Old vs. New Timtex Challenge

March 10th, 2009 in News & Events
By Megan Scott

Robyn's Demitasse Bag #2

Craft blogger Robyn of Dog Named Banjo has been testing out the newly reformulated Timtex by comparing it to the old Timtex. She’s has made two darling bags to test the two types. Check out Robyn’s adorable Demitasse Bags One and Two.

After I worked with the new and went back to working with the old, I really didn’t notice much of a difference at all! The older Timtex is slightly heavier and more fibery (if that makes any sense) than the new, but as I worked with both side by side, they really were both incredibly similar, and equally effective in keeping the shape of the bag. So it looks like you really can’t go wrong with the new stuff!

Demitasse Bag #1

Amy Shuter Made My Day

March 10th, 2009 in Inspiration
By Adrianne Shroyer

In early February I was contacted by Amy Shuter, a quilter who was requesting permission to use a pattern from our book, Small Quilts with Vintage Charm by Jo Morton, to make a quilt in honor of her mother that would be sold to benefit the Alzheimer Art Quilt Initiative. Now, I receive quite a few permission requests, but this is the first time someone has shared the end result with me. This message made my day, and I thought our blog readers would enjoy it as well.

Thanks so much for the permission to use the pattern. I waited till I finished the quilt to thank you for the permission–just thought you might like to see it. I have now finished the mini-quilt and turned it in so it can be auctioned. The picture shows how much I love this design. I have now made it 3 times! The largest one (with 1/2 in logs) is on my dining room table as a table topper. The middle sized one (with 1/4 in logs) is on the wall. Thanks so much for the fun pattern design and for the permission to sell the smallest one to raise money for Alzheimer’s research.

On another subject, after looking at a dozen or more books on machine quilting at the quilt shop, I purchased Machine Quilting Solutions by Christine Maraccini. I am currently practicing drawing my designs on a dry erase board and looking forward to quilting a twin size quilt soon using ideas from this book. Thanks for your help on yet another project!

Sincerely,
Amy Shuter

Quilts by Amy Shuter

March Design Challenge!

March 9th, 2009 in Contests
By Lisa Fulmer

Ready-To-Go!® Cupcake Blank Board Book Design by Angela Daniels

Who doesn’t love a cupcake…a perfect single serving of just-for-me goodness. Cupcakes are all the rage right now in fabrics, papers, and all sorts of craft projects.

Create a project with a cupcake theme…and you might win $100 serving* of C&T just-for-you goodness. Quilters, knitters, cardmakers, scrapbookers, needlefelters, artists, crafters…show off your talents right here!

Post a link to a photo of your cupcake project here in the comments or email your photo to ctinfo@ctpub.com. If you’re on flickr, you can add it to our Design Challenge group. All entries must be submitted one of these three ways to qualify for the prize drawing. Deadline for entries is midnight on April 6, 2009. More information on our design challenges can be found here.

Not sure what to make for this challenge? Try our new Ready-To-Go!® Cupcake Blank Board Book! Cover it with fabric, paper, ink or paint—perfect for a memory album, recipe book, journal. Let your imagination run free! Check out what our designers did with them in our Flickr gallery. Place your backorders now. Product will ship the week of March 23rd. Click below for free templates that fit the cupcake board book.

Front side template
Back side template

Good luck! We can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

Here’s a quick hello from Angela Daniels, a member of our Design Team who came up with the sweet idea to create a cupcake board book.

* Prize package is a selection of C&T Publishing books and products valued at $100 retail.

Canvas Book Giveaway Winner

March 9th, 2009 in Contests
By Casey Dukes

Congratulations to Carol who won last week’s giveaway. She’s getting a blank canvas book and some paints and goodies to create her very own masterpiece. Enjoy!

Everyday Inspiration

March 9th, 2009 in Inspiration
By Diane Pedersen

A creative life is filled with challenges and rewards, puzzles and curiosities. This ongoing series of poems attempts to express the “A ha’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.

The world
Is so full
Of stimulus
These days
That you have to stimulate yourself
To keep up.

What would happen
If you removed
All the stimulants?
(Coffee, TV, music,
Internet, email, radio,
Billboards, sugar, cigarettes,
Diet Coke and drugs…)

Would you be able
To face
Yourself?

Home Shopping: Part II

March 6th, 2009 in Free Projects, Surface Design & Mixed Media
By Cynthia Bix

Back in December I blogged about Home Shopping, in which I confessed to having leftover sewing and crafting materials of every description all over my house and not knowing what to do with all of it.

Inspired by Rebekah Meier’s new book, Fabric Art Collage, I decided to try my hand at repurposing some of my fabric and crafty odds and ends to make my own collage.

Well, I can report that, first of all, my hat’s off to Rebekah. She is a true artist, and I couldn’t begin to create anything as complex and imaginative as her pieces in a million years! Her paint effects, especially, are beyond gorgeous. BUT–I’m not an artist, just a quilter and crafter of humble abilities. So, I decided to treat this not as a test of talent, but as a license to play!

Like a kindergarten kid, I plunged my hands into my hodgepodge of ribbon, fabric, rubber stamps, glitter, and paper, and made three little cards, ranging in size from 4″ x 6″ to 5″ x 7″.

Piece #1:

fabricartcollage21

Base: My version of Rebekah’s Nontraditional Patchwork–bits of fabric cut with pinking shears, fused together with lightweight fusible, and machine stitched (a little) in random swirls. I used the “wrong” side of a couple of fabrics because I liked the muted colors. The whole thing is mounted on a piece of our fast2fuse.

Next layer: A piece of gold netting

The next layer: White felt dabbed with a wet teabag and decorated with scraps of yarn fibers fused on with BoNash007 Bonding Agent.

Embellishments: Scraps of vintage lace, an old pink ribbon, and a fragment of a vintage button card–all fused or glued on.

Binding: A backing of fabric cut with pinking shears and fused to the back of the card, then wrapped and fused to the front.

Piece #2 (mostly paper):

sparkle-collage1

Base: Watercolor paper painted randomly with watercolor paints.

Next layer: Random thread scraps inspired by Rebekah’s thread fabric, pus a sprinkling of glitter, covered with a used dryer sheet–fused with BoNash 007 Bonding Agent.

Embellishments: Scraps of vintage green ribbon and pinkish bias tape, slivers of gold origami paper, and a “paper bead” (a very funky version of the ones in Rebekah’s book) tied with more random thread. All glued on.

A few rubber stamped squares with glitter embossing powder.

Piece #3:

bird-collage

Base: Stiff paper covered with an 18th-century (I think) repro fabric

Birds and vines: Printed on fabric (using an inkjet printer) from frontispiece art found in an old book; cut out and colored with crayons. Individual birds at top: rubber stamped on fabric.

Underlayer: brownish cheesecloth. . .not sure this was such a good look. Fused on with Bo-Nash 007 Bonding Agent.

Borders: At left, painted watercolor paper cut with decorative scissors, rubber stamped, and embossed with gold embossing powder, plus a scrap of vintage lace up top. Paper scrapbooking corners and border on right (a little funky).

And that’s what I came up with. The beauty of Rebekah’s techniques (there are 40+ in her book) is that they are so inspirational, and you can put them together in any way you want to, for any kind of effect.

Try it–it’s fun!

C&T Publishing is a group of quilters and crafters dedicated to publishing products tailored to our audience. This blog is where we break away from book schedules and marketing campaigns to focus on what drives us to be creative and how this creativity manifests itself in our every day lives.