*Sheer Paper-Cloth* Ornaments

*Bell Tents*

On the 15th year of the ANNIVERSARY issue of quilting Arts Magazine , under my article entitled *Sheer Paper-Cloth*, I demonstrate how to make a pliable and soft material that is easy to sew by hand or by machine. It was also demonstrated on Quilting Arts TV - episode 2106.

 

This technique is good not only for making art quilts, but also to make ornaments to decorate the house, especially now that we are in the Holiday season.

 

Once you have your paper-cloth ready, follow the next instructions to make a "bell tent":
 

1) Cut one piece from Sheer Paper-Cloth and iron interfacing in the back.







2) Draw and cut the pattern below from copy paper.

3) Trace the pattern on the right side of the Sheer Paper-Cloth (I usually use a mechanical pencil for this task but for this demonstration I used a black marker). Make sure you leave 1/2 inch of bottom border.



4) Cut circles from the contrast color areas of the Sheer Paper-Cloth and paste them with glue as shown

 

5) Select a dark color of 28w Aurifil cotton thread and load your sewing machine. Choose a free motion foot and drop the feed dogs.

 

6) Sew on the 1/2 inch space you left at the bottom of your traced shapes as shown in the picture below to go from shape to shape.

 

7) Select Aurifil Lana 12w thread for your hand embroidery. I love the bold marks these threads leave with simple stitches.

 

8) Once finished, cut around each shape.

 

9) Sew from the top dot to the straight edge. When you are ready to sew the third piece fold the opposite side as shown below (side view).

 

10) (Top view) You can see below the left side already sewn on both sides. It is folded to make room for sewing the right and third side.

 

11) After having finished sewing with your machine, each top side should look like this. Starting and/or stopping at the dots. Leave a small opening.

 

12) Cut a 14 inch long piece of thread. Tie up a jingle bell with a knot in the middle.

 

13) With the help of a tweezer pass both threads from the inside through the middle hole. It helps to rest the jingle bell at the edge, as shown in the picture, to have the right length of the thread.

 

14) Insert a little button on the top. Make a doble knot and apply a drop of rubber cement to the back.

 

15) Now that you know how to make one *Bell Tent*, why not make more and share them with your family and friends to spread some cheer throughout the season?

 

I am linked to: http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com

*NEW* Article in Simply Moderne Magazine

 

I have so many news to share but I cannot do it in one post. I will write several entries in the coming days.

My latest article has been released! This is my sixth consecutive year writing for the French magazine Simply Moderne Magazine.

My article shows how to paint quilt blocks with a technique I've called *Speckle Paint*. And believe me when I tell you that you need a cheese grater for this technique.

It is a very complete article, with detailed pictures of every step. It is 8 pages long! I created this technique because *Speckling* has always intrigued me. I tried many different ways through the years and finally I discovered how to do it. Each block is different and yet the end result is a cohesive quilt top since the same design is repeated several times.

You can create your own screens OR you can get a set of two, the same designs I used on my quilt at My Store. 

Also inside this issue there is an article about Quilt National. To promote this event a group of quilts was chosen and to my surprise they included a photograph of my winning quilt as well. That makes me very happy. An unexpected surprise.

And here are some details:

My final quilt ( 50" x 74"):

I hope you will try this new way of painting. It's lots of fun :)

Stay safe!

Working with Thick Threads by Hand and Machine combined with Beading

*Compost*

 30" inches by 44" inches

It has been quilted with thick Aurifil 12 weight and 28 weight thread.
 

I wanted to do a quilt with one of my favorite fruits as the main design *The Apple* and show off how beautiful it can be even when it is in it's rotten stages.

After I designed and painted each block, I didn't like the *too white* background around each apple, although it can be ideal for showing off the true colors of the paint. To fix this, I chose a light green 28 weight thread to do the quilting around each apple. It gave it just enough color to tame down the white and, in my opinion, give it more depth.

Then I chose a black 28 weight thread to quilt on top of the black and white dotted fabric and red 28 weight thread for the curved red inserts; it gives enough coverage to allure the viewer.

Let me show you how I did it:

I designed the stencils in my Silhoutte Cameo machine and with painsticks I painted the designs on white muslin fabric.

I loaded my sewing machine with 12 weight Aurifil thread and started sewing/drawing around each shape.

With the same thread I did hand embroidery.



And then some beading.



When I was happy with each apple, I sewed the blocks together. Then I loaded the sewing machine with 28 weight thread this time. Although there are so many quilting designs to chose from, I decided to use the *classic* meandering around each apple and loops on the dotted fabric.

(looks like white thread but it is actually a light green color)

Detail of one block.

As you can see, the thick threads adds extra dimension to your work, calling the viewer in, surprising them with the texture achieved and the unexpected hand embroidery and beading. I hope you will give it a try.



Hand Embroidery and Beading on Stenciled Fabric

I wanted to make a quilt with a simple shape. I chose the apple since it is my favorite winter fruit. My goal was to work with this shape, do some variations to make it interesting, and at the same time end up with a set of cohesive blocks so I can sew them together to make a quilt!

I started designing stencils in my Silhoutte Cameo Machine. I made five different ones. This is the first one in the series.

Colored plain white muslin with paintsticks. Sew strips of fabric around.

With polyester batting underneath, since I'm planning to do trapunto sew around the shapes with Aurifil 12 weight.

It looked like this when I finished.

Then, I used the same thread to add hand embroidery and seed beads for details. Next time I will show you the next block.