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Here’s how the Book Review Program works:

1. If you are not already a member, join the C&T Creative Troupe.
2. Browse through the current C&T Catalog.
3. Let us know which books that interest you. You can request one book at a time—you will receive an electronic version (not a hard copy).
4. Enjoy the book and post your review on the book’s product page at Amazon, C&T’s website,  and at least one of the following websites: Goodreads, LibraryThing, BookSpot, Barnes & Noble, & Borders.
5. Within two weeks of receiving the eBook, email meganw@ctpub.com with links to the reviews. Then request your next book.

Get Paid to Play! If you are a member of the C&T Creative Troupe, you are already creating beautiful art with our books and products, why not get paid for it? If you haven’t joined the Creative Troupe yet, what are you waiting for? Become a member of our creative family today!

We have listed all the details of the program below, but the concept is simple. Get a project made with C&T products published in the media, and we will pay you.

2010 Print Endorsement Fee Schedule:

• Liquitex® Soft Body Acrylic Paints & Mediums used in a quilt or fabric painting project—$50
• Any Ready-to-Go!® Blank Board Product or Canvas Book—$50
• Any of C&T’s Tools, Notions & Interfacings—$50

2010 Online Endorsement Fee Schedule (Media outlet must attract at least 50,000 monthly visitors):

• Liquitex® Soft Body Acrylic Paints & Mediums used in a quilt or fabric painting project—$25
• Any Ready-to-Go!® Blank Board Product or Canvas Book—$25
• Any of C&T’s Tools, Notions & Interfacings—$25

Television and Radio Endorsement Fee determined on an individual basis. Email meganw@ctpub.com for details.

Fine Print:

• All products must be mentioned by brand name
• C&T reserves the right to determine all fees paid
• Maximum combined compensation for multiple products used in a single project is $200
• Maximum combined compensation for multiple projects in the same print magazine is $200

To receive compensation for print placements please send original tear sheets and cover or color copies to:

Megan Wisniewski

C&T Publishing

1651 Challenge Dr.

Concord CA 94520

To receive compensation for online placements please email url to meganw@ctpub.com.

Submissions must be received no later than 3 months following publication date. For a suggested list of media outlets please email meganw@ctpub.com.

Well, Spring is almost officially sprung and everyone at C&T Publishing is excited to introduce Stash, our new line of how-to books celebrating fabric arts for a handmade lifestyle. If you’re craving beautiful authenticity in a time of mass-production…Stash is for you.

Officially, Stash is an imprint of C&T Publishing. What is an imprint, you say? I’ll try not to be too much of a publishing geek when I say…in book publishing, it is a way for a company to respond to the needs of a new or growing group of readers.

This imprint concept is very common in publishing but more easily understood in the automobile industry. For example, Toyota has their main Toyota cars but in recent years has launched Lexus and Scion to accommodate a variety of aesthetics. Similarly, Stash is a line of books that compliments the C&T list by providing content that accommodates the craft sewer.

Over many months, C&T has been carefully listening and studying ways to connect with this emerging generation of craft sewers who are actively seeking out unique and innovative fabric-based projects while still looking for style, inspiration, value, and accuracy.

With Stash, C&T is taking a major proactive step to reach out and connect with them. Stash will inspire you with contemporary designs, clear and simple instructions, and engaging photography. The first four books in the imprint available this Spring are: Me and My Sewing Machine, Little Birds, City Quilts and Socks Appeal.

Within the coming months, Stash will release an additional six titles supported by national advertising campaigns, blog tours, and a dedicated community-focused website (Stashbooks.com) launching later this month. In 2011, Stash will introduce a further 12 titles to address the needs of this important new customer.

Unlike other publishers who have dabbled in the craft sewing category, C&T is perfectly situated to apply the quality, accuracy and value that is the core of C&T Publishing’s business philosophy to Stash.

Want to hear more? Our Marketing Manager, Lisa Fulmer, will be participating in a segment on FaveCrafts internet radio this Sunday at 4pm PST, and she will be talking about Stash! (If you miss the live segment, it will be archived on the site so that you can listen to it later)

Welcome to the era of confident sewing. Welcome to Stash.

A couple of years ago, Elm Creek Quilts author Jennifer Chiaverini organized a contest among her devoted Elm Creek Quilts fans. In the novel, Circle of Quilters, two founding members of Elm Creek Quilts Camp decide to leave the fold. The remaining members had to select two new teachers to join their staff, which is really more like a family. In the book as a part of the application process for the teaching position, each of the five finalists was instructed to design an Elm Creek Quilts quilt block as a test of their quilting skills, creativity, and understanding of the spirit of Elm Creek Quilts.

Jennifer decided to invite Elm Creek fans to design an original quilt block to be used as the new logo for Elm Creek Quilts. The entries were as delightful and varied as those in the story do, and the block that best captured the spirit of Elm Creek Quilts was chosen by an online vote. The grand prize winning block was made by Jane Klocker. Click here to see the complete list of winners.

The winning block by Jane Klocker

We are excited to announce that C&T has made the 10 winning block patterns available in a downloadable eBook called To Be an Elm Creek Quilter featuring a sampler quilt project. You can only find it on the C&T website.

Alissa Haight Carlton, a soon-to-be C&T Publishing author, is at it again. Not content with merely working on her first book (along with co-author Kristen Lejinks) while hosting a quilt-along, while holding membership in a variety of block-swaps, and having a full-time job, Alissa is doing what she can to help spread the word about modern quilting. And C&T thinks she is doing a bang-up job!

After successfully starting her own local guild for L.A. area residents interested in modern quilts, Alissa has inspired many other modern quilt guilds to spring up around the globe. If you are interested in joining one, check out this link to TheModernQuiltGuild.com.

If you visit the site and find there isn’t a modern quilt guild in your area, use this resource for starting one yourself. The term ‘modern quilting’ is a tricky one to explain, so the group is inviting guild members to express what modern quilting means to them personally, and describe how it differs from contemporary, traditional, and art quilting.

Here at C&T Publishing, we encourage any and every type of quilting and are excited to see this growing quilting niche attract sewers and quilters, both new and experienced. If Alissa’s modern quilt guild looks like the aesthetic you are interested in and want to learn more about, then join (or start) a modern quilting group today!

According to Katie, the retreat is comprised of a small group of quilters from all over the world, and a staff of amazing instructors. It all takes place this coming June at the beautiful Colorado resort, Gateway Canyons.

Click here for all the details. We hope you can make it!

She built her virtual quilting course around a blog called “Block Head” that she created to show her progress, turn in her assignments, etc.

When I came across her blog, I was (of course, completely & totally)  fascinated. I had to know who she was, why she chose Quilter’s Academy and how her progress was going. I asked Lesley if I could interview her, and she said YES!

1. Tell us a little more about yourself.

I’m almost 54, retired from owning and operating a small business, and I live in Tasmania. Tasmania is a large island to the south of Australia, with a population of a half million and the cleanest air in the world. I moved to Tassie from the mainland about 3 years ago, leaving behind 4 children & 4.2 grandchildren. Not knowing anyone here except for my fiancé (now husband), my sewing interests have enabled me to make many new friends and settle in nicely. I also garment sew, and collect and attempt to restore vintage sewing machines.

2.  How did you get turned on to quilting?

Discounting the knitwit tracksuits I used to make for my kids 25 years ago, I began garment sewing about 15 months ago. Armed with a sewing machine that was a wedding present from my husband, I had a few formal lessons, joined the local sewing guild and used books and the internet to learn. I enjoyed sewing, and especially the company of other sew-ists, but had no desire to do patchwork. In fact, my new sewing machine came complete with a Quilter’s Toolbox, which I promptly put in the cupboard unopened. It wasn’t until a visit with my mostly bedridden mother-in-law last October, who was having an unexpected treat sitting up in an armchair and complained of being cold, that I thought to make a quilt. Lots of people quilt, how hard can it be? I thought.

3. What was it about Quilter’s Academy Vol. 1—Freshman Year that inspired you?

Obsessed with wanting to learn more about quilting, I scoured the internet for information and visited my local library, where I found Harriet Hargrave’s Heirloom Machine Quilting. It literally took my breath away—I had no idea quilts could be so beautiful. I found it incredibly inspiring, particularly that all those stunning quilts had been made on machines similar to my own. I purchased a copy of that book and started practicing FMQ on calico (muslin) scraps. To get anywhere with this, I needed quilt tops to practice on.

4. What have been your favorite achievements from the book so far?

I know this is very unexciting for readers, but my most treasured achievement so far is being able to truly cut fabric correctly. Honestly, if you can’t get this first stage right, nothing else is going to work. This is as far as I got in my last two projects—after the cutting nothing worked, nothing fitted and all I ended up with was a full scrap bag and a lot of frustration. Harriet’s book taught me how to cut fabric correctly and it worked for me from the very first project.

5. Has blogging influenced your quilting?

Absolutely, yes. As I am treating this book as I would a hands-on course, the blog has become my discipline. It’s where I file my report at the end of each assignment. It’s where I ‘hand in my work’. It keeps me working and it keeps me inspired. I love that I can ask an opinion, or a question on my blog, and invariably will get an answer in the form of a comment. The book, the blog, the guild, and various internet forums all work together in teaching me this intricate craft.

6. What advice would you give others starting out and thinking about buying the book?

Do it. Whether a raw beginner, or an experienced quilter not happy with the results you are getting, buy this book and use it as it was intended to be used. Don’t be tempted to skip parts you think you already know. You may be missing something so basic, yet so important, that without that information you will never improve to your full potential. When I started the blog, I invited others who were working through the book to join me. I would love to see what others are doing, what their results are and where their bumps in the road are. Please, anyone who is working through the course, comment on my blog and let me know. I would love some company!

This week I received what I felt to be ultimate praise. I took my first project from the book, Carrie’s Cowboy Corral, into a quilter’s guild meeting, to ask advice on borders. This guild is chock to the brim of very experienced quilters with extraordinary talent. The comments on my quilt top were all positive, the best being “you do very nice work” - without the inevitable following comment “for a beginner”. Thank you Harriet, you’re teaching me well.

Thank you for sharing Lesley!

Visit Lesley’s blog at Patchnblock.blogspot.com

Visit Harriet Hargrave’s and Carrie Hargrave’s Quilter’s Academy Journal blog at Quiltersacademy.blogspot.com

For me, the highlight of every CHA show is always the people. Nothing beats connecting in person with friends, colleagues, and customers to relish and rave about all that is new in our wonderful world of craft. Of course, C&T has some new and totally rave-worthy products – the Liquitex® Surface Design Center, Lutradur® Mixed Media Sheets, and our upcoming new book imprint, Stash—Fabric Arts for a Handmade Lifestyle.

So after the first day of the Super Show, we braced ourselves for the weekend masses expected on day 2. We built it and they came! The C&T demo table at the Lisa Liza Lou booth was full all day – Creative Troupers Tina Kay and Joy Lily kept people happy and busy with creative ATC and fabric painting projects.

Joy shows how to paint white tone-on-tone printed fabric with gradient colors of Liquitex paints

Tina shows how to create ATCs with upcycled papers and Lutradur, using Liquitex paints and mediums.

We gave away yummy prize packages to a few lucky winners in the theater and at the CHA door prize booth. There was plenty of excitement going on all over the show, not the least of which was the bouncy house in the Kids Zone! Everyone was sporting sassy swag from Making Memories, Provo Craft, JoAnn, Michael’s, and Fiskars…just to name a few.

Check out more of the Super Show on the C&T YouTube channel and in the C&T Flickr Gallery.  You can spot yours truly in this fun CHA montage video by mixed-media artist Suzi Blu, who spreads the word about Carol Duvall’s new online venture. You might also want to visit Craft Critique for detailed and unbiased CHA coverage – from products  to trends, the CC reporters got it covered! Our friends at the Diva Craft Lounge and at Inspired at Home have great CHA reports too.

No sooner did the Super Show end, then the Trade Show began! C&T’s booth was simple and lovely…oh and right across from the food court…location, location, location!! Our knowledgeable staff arrived ready to sell and our talented demonstrators arrived excited to share!

On the evening following the first day of the trade show, we held our 3rd annual Stay-n-Play Café – where resellers, designers and teachers come together to relax, have fun, and try out new products from a variety of different manufacturers. The concept is simple and we hope all retailers and teachers take it to heart – when you create a comfortable, casual environment where artists and crafters can take time to learn new techniques and experiment with new products (hence the term “stay and play”)…you open up their minds to new creative possibilities, you develop lasting relationships, and what do you know, you’ll even sell more product!  ;-)

Café attendees used Permapaque paint markers from Sakura to enhance stamped images on Ready-to-Go!® Blank Canvas Books

Be sure to visit the C&T Flickr Gallery for more pics from the trade show…and if you attended, let us know what you saw, what was exciting? If you didn’t attend – share a link to your favorite CHA coverage on another blog!

Experiment with surface design - paint a Ready-to-Go!® Blank Board Book!

We were lucky enough to work with Hollis on creating  Imagine Hope Notecards. It’s a collection of 12 notecards with four inspiring images in a beautiful package. Hollis’ quilts are a great reminder that no matter the medium, art has the power to change lives.

At the Lisa Liza Lou booth, all the C&T surfaces were shining brightly. Our demo table was full all day, literally not one minute passed where there weren’t people learning about new surfaces, paints, mediums and techniques. You can catch videos here on our YouTube channel of the booth before the show opened, plus a quick interview with artist Sarah Hodsdon, who spent the first couple hours of the show at our demo table, painting a Ready-to-Go! Blank Canvas Book that will be auctioned off tomorrow night at a charity raffle.

Danielle shows off her canvas book

Jan paints a board book

Also at our table was the host of the Diva Craft Lounge, Danielle Forsgren. She painted a fabulous canvas book, using lots of yummy Liquitex® Iridescent Medium for extra diva sparkle! And joining them to play was Jan Mollet Evans, author of C&T title “Scrap Your Stuff.” Jan painted a gorgeous pattern on a Ready-to-Go! Blank Board Book.

Marcie holds court and shows folks how to burn lacey effects into Lutradur

In the afternoon, our friends and Creative Troupers Marcie Krezel and Toy Jalanugraha rocked the demos with Lutradur® flowers and painted collage on fabric, using Liquitex paints, inks and mediums.

Toy's collage techniques were a real crowd-pleaser!

Day 2 promises to be even BIGGER…off to get some rest!

From left, Chris Wallace from Walnut Hollow, Lisa Fulmer (me!), C&T author Rebekah Meier, and C&T Business Development Mgr. Mary Wruck