C&T Publishing Blog » Video

New Book Trailer: Tile Quilt Revival

Danielle Dews — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:53:05 +0000

This book trailer tells the story of Tile Quilt Revival by Bobbi Finley and Carol Gilham Jones, which was released this past January. Inspired by nineteenth-century tile quilts, the projects in the book work beautifully with today’s colorful, contemporary fabrics, but they retain that folk-art style that makes them so much fun to sew and show off.

New Book Trailer: Fabric to Dye For

Danielle Dews — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:06:34 +0000

Fabric to Dye For by Frieda Anderson includes step-by-step instructions for everything from preparing your work area, to mixing the dyes, to washing and drying your hand-dyed fabrics. You’ll love the colors you see in the projects shown in the video trailer and you’ll be inspired to brighten up your own stash with hand-dyed fabrics.

New How-to Video: fast2cut® Dresden Plate Template

Danielle Dews — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:37:17 +0000

We have a new how-to video on YouTube! It shows you exactly what you can do with the fast2cut® Dresden Plate Template by Anelie Belden. With this tool you can cut blades for 5 different Dresden Plate styles: peaked, curved, 3-D, straight, and 3-sided, each in 3 different sizes. If that sounds complicated, don’t worry. With the video as your guide, you’ll be cutting blades and working on your very own Dresden Plate quilt in no time.

Need some additional inspiration or direction? Get Anelie Belden’s book, Thoroughly Modern Dresden!

Check out the Intuitive Color & Design Book Trailer

Danielle Dews — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:16:51 +0000

Jean Wells is super excited about her latest release Intuitive Color & Design, and so are we! Watch the video interview with Jean below then scroll down a bit further to see some of the quilts from the book.

Five Pine 124" x 84" by Jean and Valori Wells

Ledges, 17" x 18", by Jean Wells

Oregon Fields, 28" x 42", by Linda S. Saukkonen

Alex’s New 4-in-1 Tool

Casey Dukes — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:15:49 +0000

A few months ago, Alex Anderson stopped by to make a video of her upcoming 4-in-1 Essential Sewing Tool. It’s not unusual for authors to stop by, but I wasn’t expecting to see Alex zipping through the halls with our resident camerawoman on her heels. That lady is full of energy!

Here’s the final video with a sneak peak at Alex’s new tool.

Fast, Fun & Easy® Fabric Dyeing Book Trailer

Danielle Dews — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:26:20 +0000

We’ve got a new book trailer up on our YouTube channel and this time it’s for Fast, Fun & Easy^® Fabric Dyeing by Lynn Koolish! You may remember Lynn’s post this past October about the day her book arrived at C&T, or perhaps her January post about the day we had our own fabric dyeing workshop out in the warehouse.

When I participated in the fabric dyeing workshop I was at first overwhelmed by the realization that the possibilities are endless when it comes to fabric dyeing. But when I saw how easy it was to get started on my way to making something that looked cool, I just dove right in and never looked back. That said, why not dive right into the new Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Dyeing book trailer…

Lynne Farris and Fresh Felt Flowers on HGTV!

Megan Wisniewski — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:30:59 +0000

Lynne Farris, the author of Fresh Felt Flowers, A Touch of Felt & Fast, Fun & Easy® Needle Felting shares her fresh felt flowers with the HGTV audience. Host Carol Duvall and Lynne take you through a fabulous tutorial on creating stunning tropical felt flowers. Check out part one and two of the episode.

Fabric Art Collage Book Trailer

Ali Snow — Mon, 11 May 2009 18:18:23 +0000

View the book trailer for Rebekah Meier’s new release, Fabric Art Collage.

Quilters’ TRIMplates® Investigation

Megan Wisniewski — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:13:18 +0000

When I found out that Wendy Mathson’s new Quilters’ TRIMplates® not only make it easy to sew Storm at Sea Blocks, but also claim to help you do it with perfect accuracy, I had to get more information. I wouldn’t call myself a pessimist, but sometimes, if it sounds too good to be true…well, you know how it ends. So, I put on my reporter hat and went to work. I will now disclose my findings, but in case you feel like skipping the details, my scientific evidence concludes that YES, Quilters’ TRIMplates® really do allow you to create perfect, gorgeous, Storm at Sea Quilts.

First things first, visual evidence. Check it out. This is Wendy Mathson demonstrating how to use fast2cut® Quilters’ TRIMplates to sew a Storm at Sea block.

OK, that was pretty good evidence, but I still wanted to dig deeper. I got a hold of some of Wendy’s students that had actually used the TRIMplates® and completed Storm at Sea Quilts. Here what they had to say about the experience:

I’ve tried lots of methods for cutting and piecing Storm at Sea blocks. They include cutting shapes for piecing, cutting using acrylic templates, and even paper piecing. All of these methods were tedious, very time consuming, and really weren’t that accurate. Wendy’s TRIMplate method is a real winner! Trimming for accuracy is her secret. -Collette McManus

Wendy’s TRIMplates are not only an accurate way to cut but are fun to use. It is exciting to put the TRIMplate on the piece, square it up, see that it looks great and I know it is the right size. TRIMplates are some of my favorite quilting tools. -Peggy Dunn

Using Wendy’s TRIMplates was very easy and made the blocks so very accurate. I never had such an easy time putting the whole quilt together with the blocks matching perfectly. -Pat Wolfe

Pretty impressive stuff from people who have actually had success with the TRIMplates®. Now, let’s get the behind the scenes story from Wendy herself…

Wendy, How did you come up with the idea for TRIMplates?

I experimented with several different ideas before the concept for the final design literally popped into my head while I was in the shower. I don’t know if that’s something you want to tell the world, however! My joy is sharing my love for quilting in the classroom. It lifts my spirits to be able to show my students how to do something better, faster or easier and watch them as they get excited as well. So, I guess that’s how the TRIMplate piecing method has affected me.

I even found a fan of Wendy’s TRIMplates® technique who made a Storm at Sea jacket. San Diego based Lisa is the quilter behind the blog quilts2wear. She calls this jacket Red Sky at Night.

Well, I’m sold and can’t wait to try the TRIMplates® out. What about you? Have you tried this method for accurate and beautiful Storm at Sea Quilts? Share your thoughts, experiences and projects with us. Happy Quilting!

Weekly Giveaway: Ready-to-Go!® Blank Canvas Book

Mary Wruck — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:47:56 +0000

I’m happy to say that our new Ready-to-Go!^® Blank Canvas Books are getting a lot of buzz. On this week’s episode of Fiskars TV, Fiskateer Cheryl Waters is doing a fun little project featuring a canvas book she’s called “Birds of a Feather.” Check it out here (then click on “This Week’s Episode – Birds of a Feather”). While you watch the video you can download the Instruction Sheet, which includes additional photos of the process.

The way she uses spray inks and acrylic paints with stamps on the book, make for a super easy project. This could be done with kids, and I’m always looking for fun stuff to do with mine.

Canvas books accept all kinds of media quite easily. Because the canvas isn’t primed (coated with gesso or other type of base product), acrylic paints and inks will slightly absorb into the weave giving the pages a nice textural feel. I love how the pages can be sewn, and I’ve been sewing like crazy onto the soft memory book I’ve been making for my daughter Emma.

Emma's Canvas Book

It’s all about her fourth year, and I’ve had fun printing photos on fabric and stitching them into the “story.” There are so many projects I have in mind for canvas books that it’s hard to pick which one to start next. I have to say, that this is one of the nicest things about these books—you can get started right away. There’s no need to take the time or figure out how to sew up a book yourself.

This week we’ll be giving away a Ready-to-Go!® Blank Canvas Book and a selection of fun paints and other products that will work great on a canvas book to one lucky blog reader. All you have to do is leave a comment below that briefly describes your idea for a canvas book project. On Monday morning (March 9), we’ll pick one commenter at random and announce the winner shortly afterward. Good luck!

*Note: Comments will be closed on Monday, March 9, at 9am PST