Monthly Archives: November 2009

Inchies Rule!

November 14th, 2009 in Inspiration
By Lynn Koolish

Inchie Collage

At Quilt Festival in Houston, as part of demonstrating the Liquitex acrylic paints that we are going to be distributing in our Surface Design Center, I was making inchies, and trying to persuade Festival attendees to paint an inchie. Every morning, I would add the inchies made the day before onto the inchie collage. Kids in particular, loved painting and without hesitation would sit down and grab a brush.

young Festival attendees painting

Inchies are a great way to play with paints – each square is just 1″ x 1″ so it’s easy to fill up the space, and as soon as you do one, you get ideas for more, and more, and…

Detail from Inchie Collage

Detail from Inchie Collage

Blank Board Block Décor Lights Papercraft Project

November 13th, 2009 in Free Projects, Papercrafts
By Tristan Gallagher

When we put a call out to our Creative Troupe we never know what we’ll get in return. Trouper Kathleen Brown surprised us with this fun string of décor lights made from our Ready-to-Go!® Blank Board 3” Blocks and Timtex, These could easily be altered for any occasion. Read on for project instructions. Continue Reading…

Winner of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks

November 12th, 2009 in Contests
By Tristan Gallagher

The random choosing has taken place and Nicky is the lucky winner of the Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks magazine. Congratulations and enjoy block heaven!

Follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour all week for inspiration and ideas and more give-aways! Look for this issue in your local quilt shop next week, or purchase online.

Lorraine Olsen’s Half Block Handbag Project

November 12th, 2009 in Free Projects, Quiltmaking, Sewing
By Megan Scott

Author of Lit tle Lo ne Star Quilts, Lorraine Olsen, has come up with a brilliant way to show off some of her scraps from hand dying. It’s called the Half Block Handbag and uses techniques from her new book. Would you like to make this? Click here to automatically download free project instructions.

A Guide to Photoshop Elements

November 11th, 2009 in Inspiration
By Megan Scott

Never heard of Displacement Maps in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements? You are not alone! They are a well-kept secret, but a good source of altering fun. Author of Next Steps in Altered Photo Artistry, Beth Wheeler, has prepared a step-by-step video to show you where to find the mysterious filters and how to apply them to a photograph.

Click here to watch the video.

Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks

November 10th, 2009 in News & Events
By Lisa Fulmer

Wow! I just got my copy of Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks yesterday – what a gem! Today’s top designers, including many C&T authors, submitted 12″ blocks to the magazine last spring. There’s a wonderful variety of block designs to choose from—appliqué, piecing, and mixed techniques.

Quiltmaker has big give-aways planned too…100 of their readers will win blocks, and there’s a “Big Bundle” prize that includes lots of C&T books! You can win a copy of this keepsake issue right here on our blog too – just leave a comment and we’ll pick a winner tomorrow!

Follow the 100 Blocks Blog Tour all week for inspiration and ideas…oh, and of course, more give-aways! Look for this issue in your local quilt shop next week, or purchase online.

New iPhone App Giveaway!

November 10th, 2009 in Contests
By Lisa Fulmer

Our popular Quick & Easy Block Tool is now available as an app for your iPhone or iPod Touch. We are so excited about our first foray into these kinds of handy, downloadable applications! We have launched with rave reviews from our authors and the many people who have already bought their copy on the iTunes store. Click here for all the details!

To celebrate our newest digital masterpiece, we want to give away 3 free downloads to you, our lovely blog readers!

You can have 1, 2, or 3 chances to win – it’s up to you! Here’s how:
1. Post one comment – just to say “pick me, pick me!”
2. Post a second separate comment - to tell us you shared a link to this give-away post on your own blog, Facebook or Twitter page
3. Post a third separate comment – to tell us you added one of our gorgeous blog badges to your own blog (include your blog address)

Your comments (either here on the blog, or under this blog note on our Facebook fan page) must be posted by 9:00am PST on Monday, 11/16/09. Good luck!!

If you do download your own copy, we’d be ever so grateful if you’d post a review on the iTunes Store. We really, really, really want to know what you think of this app—is it handy, does it work right, how will you use it?

Winners of Susan Schrempf’s Giveaway!

November 9th, 2009 in Contests
By Tristan Gallagher

10565 Congratulations to the 6 lucky winners of our latest Weekly Giveaway. Ann, Mercy Arrastia Savage, steph, anne and Rosa Robichaud will all enjoy a boxed set of Susan Schrempf’s Signature Collection of silk ribbon from YLI, Corp. Thea McCurry has won a copy of Simple Silk Ribbon Embroidery by Machine by Susan Schrempf.

Thank you for all your comments here and on Facebook. The more the merrier so always keep those comments a-coming!

Fearless Design: Even for Me!

November 9th, 2009 in Staff Pick
By Teresa Stroin

I was looking through some of our recent releases and my eyes fell upon Fearless Design for Every Quilter by Lorraine Torrence and Jean B. Mills. Every quilter, hmm, I’m a quilter. . . . So I picked the book up and began reading it.

Everyday Inspiration

November 8th, 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 “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.

In V formation
Cutting
Across the sky
I see them
At a distance—
I can’t hear
Their honking
But I know
They’re on their way
(South for the winter)