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: Staff Pick
Staff Pick: Jane Dávila’s Surface Design Essentials
There was a point in my life when I never thought I would be comfortable with the words “surface design.” For some reason the term carried a scary, intimidating and unachievable connotation to me. Turns out, I was being pretty silly. Surface design is totally achievable, easy, forgiving, but most of all FUN! What turned my opinion around? Jane Dávila’s Surface Design Essentials.
In preparing for the launch of the Liquitex® Surface Design Center, we had several staff training sessions where (Continue Reading...)
Kick Summer Off with Inspired! Creativity Cards
Now that June is in full swing, we are finding ourselves surrounded by sunshine, flowers, and inspiration. As C&T author Wendy Hill says, “You’ll find colors and textures all around you, from the garden outside to the cooking scraps in the kitchen sink.” Just by looking at the picture on the front of Hill’s card showing her quilt “Anything Goes” made up of brilliant colors, mixed fabric, and circles and squares, I can tell she really looks everywhere.
If you’re like (Continue Reading...)
Staff Pick: Super Simple Quilts #2 with Alex Anderson & Liz Aneloski
When my friend, Loralee Windsor, was helping me out while I was recuperating from an easy foot surgery a short while ago, she spent some time at my bookshelf and then made off with one of my Super Simple Quilts series books. She brought it back the following weekend, having made three lap- or wall-size quilts—one of each of the three designs featured in Super Simple Quilts #2 with Alex Anderson & Liz Aneloski!
She rated “So Woven” as the easiest (Continue Reading...)
Staff Pick: Harriet Hargrave’s Quilter’s Graph Paper
You know what they say: Necessity is the mother of invention.* It’s true!
While working on the second book in Harriet and Carrie Hargrave’s Quilter’s Academy series (Quilter’s Academy Vol.2–Sophomore Year), Harriet and I were brainstorming how to make the content fit into the planned 96 pages. (The authors have so much to share and are rightfully unwilling to compromise on content by cutting any necessary information, which is why the book is now 112 pages. I’m not that good an (Continue Reading...)
A Variation on a Cozy Modern Quilt
I’ve had so many of the shop owners I work with—I like to call them “my” shop owners—get Cozy Modern Quilts in their stores, then rave about it, and use it for classes, that I decided to try it myself.
I adapted the Mint Chocolate Wall Quilt project in the book (pictured below) to a runner size of about 15” x 51”, including 1 1/2” borders, by doing a 2 block x 6 block setting.
I never worry too much about yardage (Continue Reading...)
Sneak Peek: Collage+Cloth=Quilt by Judi Warren Blaydon
I just looked through the preview pages of one of our upcoming Fall 2010 titles, Collage+Cloth=Quilt, by Judi Warren Blaydon, and it is amazing! The imagery is, in a word, rich. The concept behind the book is that artists can use collages of their own photos as inspiration for stunning, abstract quilts.
It is so fascinating to see how Judi finds just the right fabric to make things work and the quilt results are really interesting. I give Judi and her (Continue Reading...)
Staff Pick: Inchie Ruler Tape for Papercrafts
When I first saw our Inchie Ruler Tape, I thought…boy I wish I’d had some of that a few years back, when I was doing all that hand-quilting I used to do. It sure would have been SO much easier to use than masking tape! But being that I’m into paper crafting these days, I thought the product wasn’t for me…. till I had a recent brainstorm.
Seems of late, paper and fabric tapes are all the rage in (Continue Reading...)
Ruthmary’s Staff Pick: Cut Loose Quilts by Jan Mullen
One of my favorite C&T Publishing books is Jan Mullen’s Cut-Loose Quilts. It has been my go-to project and idea book since it was published in 2001, and I’ve made dozens of quilts from the projects inside.
The quilt projects in the book are fast, fun, easy, and delightful. The quilts I have made won’t win me any awards, but they aren’t meant to! What Jan’s relaxed style does win her readers is freedom—freedom from cutting restrictions and rigid construction methods. (Continue Reading...)
No-Sew Fabric Animals for Grown Ups
Ever since I saw Mary Link’s no-sew animals in her book 100+ No-Sew Fabric Crafts for Kids I knew had to get my hands on some of my own. When the project was posted as a freebie last month, I knew my time had come. And the timing really couldn’t have been better. The holidays were right around the corner and I was eager to find something I could make for family members and friends that I could (Continue Reading...)
Black Friday Sales Online!
Who needs to mess with parking, traffic, long lines, and tired store clerks who have been up since their doors opened at 5am? You can shop for lots of post-Thanksgiving bargains this Friday from the comfort of your own home.
Our friends over at www.CraftCritique.com are posting a special Black Friday notice that will link you to lots of online bargains from several different craft manufacturers and retailers. C&T will be there with a great sale on our beautiful gift items—and (Continue Reading...)
