You’re a quilter, not a painter or textile artist. What can someone like you do with fabric paints? Actually, you might be surprised by all the ways a touch of paint can enhance a quilt.
Have you ever made a quilt top that includes one fabric that just doesn’t look right? Instead of hating the top forever or spending hours ripping out seams, you can alter the color of the problem fabric with a little paint and turn a disaster into a quilt you can be proud of.
Butterfly fabric altered with an all-over wash and "coloring inside the lines"
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Beth Wheeler is back with more on how to transform images into amazing fabric and quilt art. Next Steps in Altered Photo Artistry shows you how it is to create stunning visual effects with photos and Photoshop Elements software.
The book shows you how to take a basic photograph like this one:
and turn it into this:
In celebration of Beth Wheeler’s new release, today through Monday, The Quilt Show, is showcasing their Beth Wheeler episode for FREE! Just click here to watch Beth teach you all about the techniques found in her book. Then come back to our blog and leave a comment telling us your favorite part of the episode and you’ll be entered to win a free copy of the book. There will be one lucky winner here on the C&T Blog!
The deadline to enter is 9:00am PST on Tuesday 10/13/09.
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.
I look
for the last
fig.
The leaves
have yellowed
while I was away—
five days
and the seasons
have changed.
One last almost-ripe fruit
clings
to the branch—
firm
succulent
waiting for
the last warm day
to soften.
The birds
have found
the rest.
I knock them
to the ground.
One last bloom
on the Rudy Rose.
Summer resists leaving
and so do I.
To wear or display this hat features my love of ribbons and Halloween. Fancy yet ghoulish this hat nestles a crow and hovering arachnid amongst layers of ribbons and sparkling embellishments. Tip your hat Halloween style.
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For the first time ever, Quilts are making their debut in Time Square! New York’s quilting haven, The City Quilter, worked a deal with Panasonic to provide free time on the 28 ft X 38 ft Astrovision screen, high above Times Square. It’s all in effort to promote The City Quilter’s new exhibition “MADE IN NEW YORK: City Quilting“. The quilts are being projected daily now through November 14th, when the exhibition ends. The free public show takes place at the Williams Club on East 39th Street.
The best part is, one of the quilts being displayed was created by C&T author, Ellen Highsmith Silver. Ellen is the author of Floorquilts! Pictured below is Ellen’s quilt “Wildlife”. 
I want to give a special thanks to The City Quilter for bringing quilts to the thousands of people who visit Time Square every day. You never know who may be inspired by the beautiful images.
UPDATE! Not pictured in Times Square, but in the City Quilter exhibition, “Made In New York” is the “Key West Beauty” quilt by another City Quilter teacher, C&T’s Anita Grossman Solomon. The quilt appeared in Make It Simpler Paper Piecing and will be seen again in Anita’s forthcoming book from C&T Publishing where it was the inspiration for yet another new technique by Anita.
We are teaming up with Alex Anderson to enhance the quilting program at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, Oregon.
About 7 years ago, an enthusiastic quilter named Koko Sutton heard that a women’s prison was opening in her community. She believed that learning an art form like quilting would benefit the inmates in many ways, so she started the Coffee Creek Quilters group at the prison.
Sutton gathered volunteers to teach their weekly group classes using the book, Start Quilting with Alex Anderson.
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Some of my fellow Californians might still be in denial, but I say the fall season has arrived here in Concord. Actually I’m sure of it because my car, a black 2-door Honda Civic, told me so. Suddenly I can get into it at lunch time without burning myself on the hot metal of the seat belt and without having to run the AC for a few minutes before I can touch the wheel long enough to actually steer. The sticky-back velcro that attaches my FasTrak® bridge toll transponder to my windshield no longer melts in the sun, so I don’t have to scramble around looking for the thing on the floor before I go through the bridge toll booths on my ride home.
But I am most convinced that fall is here by the fact that today I remembered “I have arm warmers!” and got really excited about wearing them again. Getting warm with the help of cozy coverings in rich, warm hues is what welcoming the fall season is all about right? This week we want to send you on your way to coziness in style, so Kim Schaefer‘s Cozy Modern Quilts is this week’s giveaway!
Hot off the press, Cozy Modern Quilts contains 23 cozy, contemporary quilt projects in an array of sizes, from lap quilts to wall quilts, table runners and placemats.
Leave a comment describing a fond memory of a fall project, and let us know if you’ve come up with a creative way to stay cozy in fall. One lucky commenter will win a copy of Cozy Modern Quilts when a name is chosen at random on Monday 10/12. Comments close at 9am PST on Monday and the winner will be announced later that day. Good luck and keep cozy!
Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins’ Piecing the Piece O’ Cake Way is a great reference book that all quilters should have in their library.
The book is especially valuable for inexperienced quilters, but I have been quilting for 20 years, and I found a lot of information that can improve my quiltmaking skills. The book is divided into chapters that teach all the basics from sewing strips and squares to dealing with curves and diamonds. The best part for me is that each section contains information and tips under the heading of “Did You Know?” For example, you get such diverse information as what to do when the blocks do not match, cutting strips wider than your ruler, working with setting triangles, clipping curves, and determining whether your batting has a right side, and so on. Even an experience quilter will find these tips helpful.
In addition the book contains projects using all the various techniques, and of course, there are photos of quilts. Becky and Linda are known for their wonderful fabric choices and beautiful use of color, so the photos are lessons in themselves.
Give this book a try. I think you will like it.
Editor’s Note: While you are at it, check out Becky and Linda’s fantastic blog!
This Week’s lucky winner is Darlene Simmons! Your wish has come true as “cats” are coming your way along with many other adorable designs, buttons and a copy of Cute as a Button Quilts.
Thank you Joni Pike for your generosity. We received record breaking “oo’s”, “ah’s” and “so cute!” comments. Proof that your pattern designs truly are Cute as a Button and bring smiles galore.
If you didn’t get a chance to check them out head to Joni’s website at Sew Special Design.
Way back in July, I blogged about getting this UFO quilted. Ruthmary, one of our Sales Reps, finished it in August and here it is September already. Ruthmary did a fabulous job as you can see in the photos. Now I’m binding it and hope to be finished by the 19th. That’s my 28th wedding anniversary and this quilt is a present for my husband, Jeff.
One quilted block
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