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.
Category Archives: Free Projects
Spring Potholder project
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 (Continue Reading...)
Linen Country Bird block pillows for Mother’s Day
For Mom’s day this year I wanted to do something springy and special, yet still in alignment with my Junk to Jewel style. I decided on this mama and baby bird linen pillow set, and put a new, modern spin on one of C&T Publishing’s classic quiltmaking books in the process.
I used the Country Bird block from Nancy Johnson-Srebro’s Block Magic. I love that she has all the math figured out for you—mama bird is a 12″ block and baby (Continue Reading...)
Taking a class at your local quilt shop
A few weeks ago I took a terrific class from Allie Aller on hand embroidery. The class was at New Pieces in Berkeley…this shop is great! Clean, well-lit, has tons of yummy fabrics and is nicely merchandised (this coming from me—a woman who did retail floor and window merchandising in her youth for 3 years). I always appreciate a store that maximizes its floor and display space.
I have always wanted to learn embroidery and loved the class; in four hours we learned about (Continue Reading...)
Two Button Purse Project
Look what Creative Troupe member Rosalind Pollock created using Liquitex® ink! and paint, fabric and thread! This is a great project for anyone interested or curious about surface design. The technique is simple and the results are stunning.
TWO BUTTON PURSE
By Rosalind Pollock
Materials:
Liquitex® Professional Acrylic ink! -Naphthol Crimson, Phthalocyanine Blue, and Transparent Raw Umber
Paintbrush, plastic palette and water
Cotton fabric, thin batting and backing fabric (approx.13” x 8”)
Thread
2 buttons
Scissors
Pencil or wash away marking pen
Instructions:
Mix a few drops of each of three colors (Continue Reading...)
Soft tile trivets inspired by Tile Quilt Revival
During our last series of Craft Camps here at C&T (whereby we take turns teaching and making wonderful things using new products and books, or playing with new twists on older titles) I taught a version of a soft trivet that won’t scratch or burn your table, using the fabulous designs in Tile Quilt Revival by Carol Gillham Jones & Bobbi Finley, and our fantastic Insul-Fleece®.
We took over the conference room to make some resized Birds in the Branches and All (Continue Reading...)
Lone Star Quilt Project
In her book Quilt Remix, Emily Cier puts a new, modern spin on 10 traditional quilt projects. Her Lone Star quilt is in the intermediate section of the book. This version has been deconstructed down to its basic elements and built back up into a lattice pattern, in the process avoiding the original’s difficult seams.
This is one of our free projects in celebration of National Craft Month! Click here to download the Lone Star Quilt project PDF. Click on the image to the left to (Continue Reading...)
Fabric table runner
Jane Dávila, author of Jane Dávila’s Surface Design Essentials, has created a fast and fun way to enjoy fabric you’ve created yourself using art materials. The big squares in the design of this table runner pattern will show off your own surface designs, such as this paint-washed and stamped fabric. The size of the finished table runner is 63” x 15” but it can easily be made longer or shorter to suit your table.
Supplies:
Hand-painted or printed fabric ¾ yard
Sashing fabric (Continue Reading...)
Sun Ray Quilt Project by Alex Anderson
National Quilt Day on March 19th has inspired us to focus our blog projects this week on just that…quilting. What better place to pick a quilt, than from a collection of favorites by uber-talented quilters and teachers. Sun Ray by Alex Anderson is just one of 19 amazing quilt projects that can be found in Quilter’s Favorites—Pieced Points & Stars. This fun quilt with stripes, dots and solids is sure to brighten and add pizzaz to anyone’s world.
For Sun Ray (Continue Reading...)
Put on the Cuffs
I love shopping for ribbon and this pretty little cuff project is the perfect excuse to add some more spools to my stash as well as breathe new life into some old favorites. I love analogous color schemes in my clothing and I can’t wait to play around with a bunch of different ribbon pieces and see which combinations of textures make for the most dramatic look.
This ribboned cuff seems to be the perfect accessory for so many different outfits and (Continue Reading...)
Wednesday Night Live – replay!
We had fun with Insul-Fleece® tonight! Click here for the replay link.
I showed several finished project ideas for using Insul-Fleece (metalized mylar insulated interfacing) from contributors to the book, Lunch Bags! and from our Creative Troupe. Then I demoed two super quick and easy insulated projects that make great gifts – a hot pad and a cup/bottle “cozy” sleeve. The hot pad design was inspired by projects in the book, Tile Quilt Revival. My coworker Ruthmary taught us (Continue Reading...)
