Monthly Archives: May 2011

Quilt Market Spring 2011 recap—on the show floor

May 30th, 2011 in Behind the Scenes, News & Events
By Danielle Dews

I arrived in Salt Lake City to set up our Quilt Market booth, stayed throughout the show, and left the morning after booth tear-down. Our presence at the show was the culmination of so much work over the past year or so—it’s kind of mind-boggling how quickly the week of the show went by in comparison to the previous weeks and months we had spent planning, coordinating, packing, and prepping.

After all that time spent focusing on our own presence, it was truly awesome to become part of the bigger picture, see as much of the show as I did, and just to have been there from the show’s beginning to end. I can’t say I will always want to stay for such a long haul, but having done so this time, I am so glad I did. Because if you’ve never been at a show the ENTIRE time, you always kind of wonder, and you are always kind of unsure as to whether or not you really got the full picture, whether or not you really “get it.”

Here are some photos of the sights I saw on the show floor at Spring 2011 Quilt Market in Salt Lake City.

The C&T Publishing and Stash Books booth

The Stash Books section is on the left side of the aisle and the C&T Publishing books and products are on the right side.

View of our booth from the second floor of the Exhibit Hall. I think I see C&T CEO Todd Hensley and author Carolyn Woods!

Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City – The Tulips!

May 27th, 2011 in Behind the Scenes, Inspiration
By Amy Marson, Publisher

We had a great time in SLC at the Spring 2011 Quilt Market Trade Show. The weather was perfect and the show itself was tremendous.But the most amazing sight were the tulips at the Mormon Temple.

I would guesstimate over one hundred thousand tulips and other flowers including pansies, mums, poppies and many more. On Thursday morning I walked with Becky Goldsmith from Piece ‘O Cake Designs and we stumbled upon the block where there were flowers in abundance lining the sidewalks.

Upon further investigation we found so much more! Fountains, planters and trees that were breathtaking. This blog post shows just a few of the photos I took—there are many more on our Flickr site. Becky and I walked every morning around 7am and every day we had to go back and take more flower pictures. Enjoy!

Wednesday Night Live – replay!

May 25th, 2011 in Wednesday Night Live Replay Links
By Lisa Fulmer

"Cactus Flower" by Peggy Martin and "Dancing Ladies" by Jan Krentz

Tonight was a most glorious and colorful hour with C&T authors, Jan Krentz and Peggy Martin.

Click here to watch the replay – you will be so inspired!

Jan showed us how to use her tools of the trade – Quilter’s Design Mirrors and fast2cut^® Rulers – with plenty of tips on how to cut your fabric to achieve different effects.

Peggy gave us a sneak peek of her quick-strip paper piecing method, and shared lots of ideas for creating different quilt designs with small changes to the same block or triangle.

Join us next week for C&T authors, Barbara Cline and Laura Lee Fritz – lots more fun and prizes in store for you! Click here for the current webcast schedule - looking forward to seeing you!

Where would we be without TAP?

May 24th, 2011 in Inspiration
By Lynn Koolish

Clock made from TAP, Lutradur, and fabric

Transfer Artist Paper (TAP), I just love it. One of my favorite things about it is that you can scratch away the polymer around something printed on the TAP so you don’t have excess polymer around an irregularly-shaped shape, such as a number, when you transfer it. I also love the way it transfers to Lutradur.

For this clock, I used the Ultralight Lutradur so the fabric and batting underneath would show through. And of course, I just had to distress the Lutradur with my heat gun.

So many clocks, so little time…..

For more clock ideas, check out Fast, Fun & Easy^®Creative Fabric Clocks.

Celebrating a decade of Shirley

May 23rd, 2011 in Behind the Scenes, Inspiration, News & Events
By Amy Marson, Publisher

What does it mean to work 10 years at one company? Do many people do that anymore? We just celebrated Shirley Montano’s 10 year Anniversary and it was great fun. For 10-year anniversaries, we have a celebratory luncheon and a special dessert of the feted person’s choice and we all take advantage of the opportunity to recall our memories and tell stories.

Shirley Montano with her dessert of choice

What I remember about Shirley is her indomitable spirit, her great sense of fun and her ability to sell ice to Eskimos. Like those before her, Shirley received an engraved watch to commemorate her achievement.

Shirley showing off her watch

As I put on my own anniversary watch (I’ve been with C&T for 11 years), I thought about the many people who have been at C&T for 10+ years. Diane Pedersen, our first employee, celebrated 20 years in 2009, and Liz Aneloski celebrated her 20 years in January of this year. I asked each person to wear their watch on Shirley’s special day and we had 11 people wear their watches. We actually have 12 but Rodel didn’t wear his. Continue Reading…

Collage+Cloth Really Does=Quilt

May 20th, 2011 in Inspiration
By Lynn Koolish

Recently Judi Warren Blaydon, author of Collage+Cloth=Quilt was at East Bay Heritage Quilters (EBHQ) and I was able to peek in on the two day workshop.

Collage and preliminary fabric selection

On the first day of the workshop, after a preliminary collage building exercise, the students started making collages from photos they had brought. From there, they traced a simplified design onto a transparent surface so it could be taken to a copy shop and enlarged and printed.

Collage and drawing on transparent surface

On the second day, students started putting fabric up on their design boards, using the enlarged copy as a guide.

Starting to select fabric

Wednesday Night Live – replay!

May 18th, 2011 in Inspiration, Wednesday Night Live Replay Links
By Lisa Fulmer

Tonight, C&T author Laura Nownes was back to show us how to make another quilt block – the Sawtooth Star. Laura made this adorable quilt filled with Sawtooth Stars using just one jelly roll of Kate Spain’s brand new fabric line, “Terrain” by Moda.

Click here to watch the replay. Visit Laura’s blog, See How We Sew, which she shares with three other quilters for lots more fun.

Next week, join us for the “Jan & Peggy Show!” C&T authors Jan Krentz and Peggy Martin will be together again to share their expert tips.

Click here for the current Wednesday Night Live! schedule.

See you soon!

Spring Potholder project

May 18th, 2011 in Free Projects, Sewing
By Tristan Gallagher

Yes, it’s a potholder! I made it and love it. My passion originates from the process of creation. Using patterns and inspiration from Fusible Magic by Nancy Johnson-Srebro, I had a blast cutting shapes, contemplating combinations, playing with color choices and best of all, experiencing the wonders of fusing (quick and easy).

By the time I finished my “heat shield”, my head was reeling with ideas for decorating messenger bags, jumpers, denim pant legs, gift cards and more. Stitching will add washer durability for clothing and individual style. The project instructions, below, include templates for this potholder, but if you’d like more options, Fusible Magic has 23 full size patterns, 100 blocks and 9 quilts projects for inspiration.

Spinning Wheel Potholder Project

Materials:

Click on template links for pdf patterns: Template 1, Template 2

Insul-Fleece™ 2 qty 8″ x 10″
Main fabric: 2 qty 8″ x 10″, 1 qty 2″ x 38″
Pocket 1 qty 7 1/4″ x 9″
4 pieces of coordinated fabric 6.5″ x 6.5″ and smaller
paper-lined fusible web 1/4′

Instructions:

Adhere (according to manufacturers instructions) the paper-lined fusing to the wrong side of 4 piecesofcoordinating fabrics.
Print pattern template pdf’s 1 and 2 onto plain paper and cut out.
Trace template to paper side of fused fabric. Cut out.
Peel off paper from cut out shapes and place into desired position on pocket. Adhere in layers according to manufacturer’s instructions
Sandwich Insul-Fleece™ between two pieces of main fabric (8″ x 10″).
Quilt all three layers with desired stitching (walking foot recommended).
Place pocket on quilted layers with left, right, bottom edges lined up. Baste in place.
Create bias by ironing the 2″ x 38″ main fabric in half lengthwise. Open and iron each edge to the middle line you just created.
Starting on the upper right corner, sew the bias around the potholder edge until you reach the top right corner again. Overlap and sew off the right edge. Continue sewing the bias tape to end.
Fold the sewn bias tape around to the back. Cut to desired loop length. Fold over end and sew into place in a perpendicular position to the top edge of the potholder. See image.

Just Curious

May 16th, 2011 in Behind the Scenes, Inspiration
By Amy Marson, Publisher

A few weeks ago I went to a conference in NY and had the opportunity to visit an artist/ author that I had met the year before at the annual Book Expo. Margaret Peot is such a talented artist, she has a newly released book for kids about making art with ink blots, called appropriately, Inkblot, Drip, Splash and Squish Your Way to Creativity. It just came out and you can find it on Amazon.

She invited me to where she worked and it was the highlight of my trip. Why? Because she works at Parsons-Meares costume shop! This is one of the last shops in NYC that make Broadway costumes. I have never seen so many people busy working with such a variety of fabric, shapes, trim, paints, foam and OMG!

Margaret's work table

So Many Fabrics

And they have their very own dyer. A young woman who has a cubby in the back of the studio with binder after binder full of recipes for different colors for a bunch of Broadway shows.

Beetle Wings

Margaret is a fabric painter by day and was working on a leotard for a new Simba that will star in the Lion King later this year.

Her job is to make the costume match the actors skin color exactly and paint on accents. When she is done painting she steams the fabric to set the paint, dries it and then hands it off to a seamstress to put it all together. Part of what was so amazing was that I saw that show the night before. As she gave me a tour of the shop I saw a few costumes from the show including the grasslands skirt and beetle wings. I also got a sneak-peak at a costume from the infamous Spiderman musical. It was so cool, it had mechanical arms and legs (because as we all know spiders have more arms and legs than we do).

The purpose of my visit was to chat with Margaret about doing a book of her fabric painting. I have included a few images of her sample work and I think a book on what she does would be fascinating.

What I need to know is if you, our readers, would be interested in a book like this? It could include how-to process instructions, lots of eye candy images of finished or in progress pieces, and I don’t know what else… I would love to know what you think, so please give me some feedback.

Everyday Inspiration—Spoken #6

May 15th, 2011 in Inspiration
By Diane Pedersen

Everyday Inspiration: Clean it up

A creative life is filled with challenges and rewards, puzzles and curiosities. This ongoing series of spoken word 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.

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.