I just came back from a short teaching trip down at the Monterey Peninsula Quilt Guild, where I taught a one day Photoshop Elements class. The guild had made arrangements to use a computer lab at a local senior center. We had 13 PCs all loaded with Photoshop Elements ready to go.
Some of the guild members had used Elements and some had not, so we started out with the basic features and functions and worked our way up. After going through the basics, students had a chance to see how to use the program to create images to print on fabric and to create images that could be interpreted in fabric. We also explored using Elements to design an entire quilt, trying out options for borders, sashing, and so on.
I brought down copies of all of our printing on fabric books, and everyone, including the staff at the computer lab, was awed by all the amazing things you can create when you print your own images on fabric.
I had some free time the next day, so one of the members took me to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. There’s a new exhibit there on Seahorses that was fabulous—and of course a fantastic opportunity to take photos.
Lynn Koolish is the co-author of Innovative Fabric Imagery for Quilts.
We have to wait until May to get THIS book, but believe me, I am already lining up for my copy of City Quilts by Cherri House. I love, love, LOVE the quilts in this book. From the gradations in the color, to the geometric shapes, to the sleek, understated style, to the modern, techie-cool feeling they give me—my new goal in life is to get one of these quilts on to my bed.
The book includes photos of Cherri’s city inspirations to help the aspiring reader understand how Cherri used fabric and thread to bring these urban elements, such as modern city architecture & buildings, city landscapes and city views, to materialize in her quilts.
City Lights, the quilt on the book cover
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One of the “perks” I enjoy most as a C&T employee are the monthly birthday celebrations. Lynne, our fabulous receptionist, chooses an afternoon when all of the month’s birthday people are going to be here and then surprises everyone with cookies, or cupcakes, or in the case of last week, what I like to call “gargantuan” cupcakes.
Usually Lynne picks up the birthday goodies in advance of the actual “celebration time.” But she tries not to bring them in too far in advance because as soon as they appear in the reception area, certain C&T employees begin swarming. Some of us just hover in anticipation for a few minutes then go on about our business. This time Gailen and Liz tried to persuade Lynne to move the “celebration time” up a few hours, but to no avail.
When it’s finally time, Lynne makes the announcement over the intercom and within a few seconds people start literally running towards the reception area. It’s pretty funny to see how excited people get—there are no shortages of sweet teeth in this office!
Isn’t it great that there are so many ways to do good things to help others? We recently held a BeadForLife Party.
Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beads, and people who care open their hearts, homes and communities to buy and sell the beads. BeadforLife eradicates extreme poverty by creating bridges of understanding between impoverished Africans and concerned world citizens.
All profits from BeadforLife are invested in community development projects that help people work their way out of poverty. The beads thus become income, food, medicine, school fees, and hope. It is a small miracle that enriches us all.
The beads are sold online at their website and at BeadForLife parties hosted by individuals or groups. It was incredibly easy to organize the party. All you need to do is pick a date, and contact them by email. BeadForLife supplies everything you need, and provides a UPS label to ship the unsold beads back to them.
The jewelry made from the beads is beautiful, colorful, and light weight so it’s easy to wear. There are necklaces, bracelets, earrings, loose beads, and jewelry bags.
I hope you’ll take a look at their site and consider hosting your own bead party.
This June we have a book coming out called Socks Appeal by Brenna Maloney. When I first heard that we were working on a book about projects to make from socks, I was a little skeptical. That was until I made my way to the book’s focus meeting. (This is where we title books and chose a cover image.) I remember making my way towards the conference room, rounding the corner, stepping into the doorway and stopping in my tracks. I had made eye contact with the cutest white bunny rabbit I had ever seen.
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My placemat, the class sample
What do you get when you combine editors, sales people and managers, along with fabric scraps and fast2fuse or batting, and then give them access to the conference room for a couple of hours? You get C&T Holiday Camps….opportunities for us to share our love of MAKING THINGS with each other.
A few times a year, we take time to investigate projects and techniques in current, upcoming or old books, or new artistic endeavors we’ve been trying to cultivate and we teach each other what we’ve found to be the most effective or maybe just the most fun.
The first holiday camp class this year was a placemat class taught by me! I have a quick and easy method of using scrap strips and fast2fuse® or batting to make placemats and table runners, with some amazing results. Continue Reading…
We are lucky enough to have a beautiful Christmas tree here in the C&T office. It always smells fabulous, but the ornament inventory seems to change a little every day. It’s always got a healthy dose of lights, Santa Clauses, and other store-bought ornaments that have been donated by employees over the years. But my personal favorites are the ornaments that are handmade, and inspired by or made from C&T books and products. These are the ornaments that seem to come out of nowhere. And many of them disappear again, probably taken home to be wrapped as gifts for the people their makers had in mind.
My contribution: I made this holiday giraffe ornament from fast2fuse and cotton fabric. I used the giraffe pattern in Mary Link’s book 100+ No-Sew Fabric Crafts for Kids but of course had to make it a bit more festive and imaginary with the red and green spotted fabric.
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I’m so excited about my first book I can hardly stand myself! I have wanted to write this book for a long time, now, and now it is here! I am so pleased to introduce my new release A Passion for Piecing!
I have been quilting since 1991, when I was dragged, kicking and screaming, to the Minnesota Quilt Show by my friend, Jan. She kept telling me I would love quilting. I kept telling her I would never have time! I was still working as a costume designer then. Now, I am retired and do almost nothing else BUT quilt…and design quilts and quilt patterns, teach quilting, design quilting fabric, and now write quilting books. How did she know?
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