In my last post, I introduced my new Design Magic book. It’s due in from the printer any day now, so you can imagine that I’m waiting on pins and needles! Did I mention that I hate waiting??? In the mean time, I want to tell you more about the book.

Design Magic is a really great way to make your own designs, turn them into freezer paper stencils, and add the designs to fabric by stenciling with paintstiks.

Freezer paper stencils? Yes, freezer paper stencils. While they don’t last forever, freezer paper stencils are much more durable than you think — I really pushed one set and used it more than 50 times before it was really worn out. As a matter of fact, I used freezer paper stencils to make most of the samples in the book, including the queen-size Woodland Flowers Quilt.

And as much as I love freezer paper stencils, there is an outer limit to how long they last, and that means you have to make multiple sets of stencils for a very large project. I like making stencils (it’s really quite easy), but even I was a little annoyed after making the 4th set of stencils for my big quilt. I decided there had to be a better way.

It took a few months and a series of samples from my very patient and understanding stencil company, but I figured out a way to make pre-cut mylar stencils from Design Magic designs. And I liked them so well that I decided to include one set in the Design Magic book. (I chose the Primrose set for the book because I used it for the big quilt — and that was the design I was working with when I figured out how to make the Design Magic process work.)

So, you get the best of both worlds. If you like the idea of designing your own fabric, the Design Magic book gives you a neat method for making your own designs, creating stencils, and transferring your designs to fabric.

If you just want to paint, you get a set of pre-cut mylar stencils that can be used to make any of the projects in the book — as well as any that you can dream up — without the work of making stencils. Here’s a photo of the Primrose Stencils.

And here are a couple of Primrose images stenciled on a piece of Gradations fabric.

As you can see, the Primrose stencils form a stylized floral motif when they are painted in a repeating pattern. They can be painted in a single color or multiple colors. I really like painting on the Benartex Gradations fabric with a single paintstik. I used a blue/turquoise variation of this fabric to make my Primrose Tote. (Confession: The book does not include instructions for this tote. I used some very basic instructions from an old magazine article and re-sized the bag to fit my painted fabric. You could do the same using your favorite tote bag pattern.)

If the fabric is not changing color, I like painting with multiple colors. Here’s a piece in progress that I was painting with bright colors.

This bright and cheerful fabric will make a wonderful wall quilt or pillow cover for a room that needs a splash of color!

As you can see, there are plenty of wonderful possibilities for the Primrose design that comes with each copy of the Design Magic book. In the next post, I’ll introduce you to additional Design Magic stencils.

As always, happy painting!

I know I’ve been missing in action here on the blog, but I’ve been totally immersed in finishing up my new book called Design Magic for Paintstiks on Fabric. The book went to the printer at the end of April, and I should have copies in my hot little hands sometime next week! And just in time for Spring Quilt Market. Whew!

Here’s the cover of my new baby and a few paragraphs from the Welcome section:

Welcome to the world of Design Magic. It’s a magical, mystical world indeed, where simple shapes are  transformed into easy-to-use tools, and fabulous fabric is created in far less time than you ever imagined possible. It’s almost like having your own magic wand!

And now that you’re here, I hope you enjoy the Design Magic adventure as much as I have. The path is full of exciting  “aha” discoveries and “wow” moments. There’s never a dull moment in the world of Design Magic.

So, what’s it all about?

Design Magic is a really slick method for making your own designs and putting them on fabric with minimal tools and time. It’s faster than fusing and easier than appliqué! Here are the 3 main steps.

• Create a design by cutting shapes from a square of black paper.
• Make a set of equal and opposite stencils.
• Stencil repeating images on fabric with paintstik colors and stencil brushes.

The book includes complete instructions for making your own designs and stencils (of course), but I’ve also included a set of pre-cut mylar stencils for those of you who just want to jump in and paint. Here’s a picture of some fabric I’ve painted with the Primrose stencils that are tucked inside the back cover of each book.

There’s way too much to tell you in a single post, so I’m not even going to try. If you want to see what else we are introducing at the Spring Quilt Market, jump on over to the New Products page on our website.

We’ll be shipping the new books and stencils out to our retailers and distributors within 2 weeks, so you won’t have to wait too long to get your own personal copy of Design Magic.

Happy painting!

Shelly