Free Project: Shelly’s Magic Mats

July 30th, 2010

Here’s a great little project for our DesignMagic stencils – or one of your own designs! My Magic Mats pattern is the simplest way to make a placemat that I can think of. All you need is two pieces of fabric, some interfacing, one paintstik, one brush, and one pair of DesignMagic stencils. It’s easy!

Fair warning – this is a long post with a lot of pictures. If you want the short version, visit the Learning Center on our site and download the instructions as a PDF. The instructions are posted here.

Here are photos of three finished Magic Mats.  As you can see, you’ll need one piece of fabric to be painted and one that will serve as the borders and backing. Let’s get started!

Material List (for one Magic Mat)

  • 1 (9″ x 17″) rectangle focus fabric (to be painted)
  • 1(18″ x 17″) rectangle of border/backing fabric
  • 3/4 yard medium weight fusible interfacing, such as Pellon ShirtTailor
  • 1 set DesignMagic stencils
  • 1 or more Shiva® Paintstiks
  • 1 stencil brush (more if you use more than one color of paint)
  • Grip-n-Grip no-slip mat [Bear Thread Designs]
  • 404 spray adhesive [Spray and Fix / JT Trading]
  • Removable chalk pencil

Step 1 – Fuse interfacing to fabric

Cut two rectangles of fusible interfacing slightly smaller than the fabric rectangles. (I cut mine about 1/8″ smaller so I don’t get fusible stuff on my ironing board cover.) Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric rectangles using the manufacturer’s instructions.

The interfacing adds body to the fabric and eliminates the need for batting. The placemat stays thin, but it’s not wimpy. I used Pellon’s ShirtTailor interfacing, which is a nice medium weight product.

Step 2 – Prepare fabric and stencils for painting

Mark the horizontal and vertical center lines on the focus fabric with a removable chalk pencil.

Place your stencils right side up on your work surface. Clearly mark one as Stencil-A and the other as Stencil-B with a permanent marker.

If you are using pre-cut mylar DesignMagic stencils, place the stencils wrong side up on a piece of newspaper and spray the back side of each stencil with 404 adhesive spray. (I prefer to do this outside or in the garage so I don’t stink up my work area.) I like to call 404 spray “post-it notes in a can.” Once the stencils are sprayed, they stay where you put them and don’t move around as you are painting.

If you are using your own designs cut from freezer paper, do not spray them with 404. Use the information in the Design Magic book for alignment tips and adhere the stencils to your fabric by pressing with a warm iron.

Step 3 – Paint DesignMagic images on focus fabric

Place your focus fabric right side up on a Grip-n-Grip mat (if you have one.) The mat will keep your fabric from moving around while you paint.

Remove the film from the end of your paintstik, rub the paint on a piece of freezer paper, and load the paint onto a stencil brush. For more information on stenciling, visit the Learning Center and download the document on Stenciling.

To paint the first image, position Stencil-A so that two alignment guides are even with the registration marks on the fabric. Paint the fist images using paintstik color and a stencil brush.

Lift the stencil from the fabric. Place the stencil on scrap fabric and gently wipe away any excess paint before using the stencil again. (I don’t usually worry about wiping my stencils unless it’s very messy or if I’m using several colors and don’t want to muddy them up when I paint the next image.)

To paint the second image, position Stencil-B next to the fist painted image. Rotate the stencil until th eimages on the stencil match up with the painted image from the previous step. Use the alignment guides and the registration marks to make sure the stencil is in the right place. Paint the image, lift the stencil, and clean the stencil if necessary.

Continue painting images, alternating between Stencil-A and Stencil-B until you have painted 8 DesignMagic images on the focus fabric.

Step 4 – Allow paint to dry and heat set paint

Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours and then heat set the paint to make it permanent. To heat set, place the painted fabric on an ironing board, right side up. Cover the painted fabric with a piece of muslin or scrap fabric. Preheat a dray iron to the appropriate temperature for the fabric. Press each section of the fabric for 10-15 seconds.

I usually heat set paint by placing the fabric paint-side down on parchment paper and pressing from the back. But in this case, I’ve already fused interfacing to the back, and I think it’s better to press from the top with a pressing cloth.

Step 5 – Assemble Magic Mat

Use a 1/2″ seam allowance for all seams on this project.

Align the long edge of the painted fabric with one 17″ edge of the border fabric, right sides together. Pin as needed and stitch the full length of the seam with a 1/2″ seam allowance. I don’t have a good 1/2″ seam guide, so I actually marked the 1/2″ line on the back side of my painted fabric.

Open the fabric and check to see that there the seam allowance covers the unpainted portion of the fabric. You can always make an extra wide seam allowance if you have unpainted portions of the focus fabric showing at the seam. Press the seam allowance toward the border fabric.

Fold the remaining 17″ edge of the border/backing fabric 1/2″ to the back side a press. After pressing, open the fold for the next step.

Align the second long edge of the painted fabric with the remaining 17″ edge of the border/backing fabric, right sides together. The fabric should form a tube. Pin as needed and mark the seam allowance 3″ from each side. (See red arrow in photo above.)

Stitch a short 3″ seam from each end, leaving the middle of the seam open. You will turn the Magic Mats through this opening later.

Here’s what your Magic Mat should look like so far. The two pieces should form a tube, and there should be an opening in one of the seam.

With the tube wrong side out, flatten the tube so one of the long seams is 1.75″ from the folded edge. Do NOT press the tube flat while it is wrong side out – we’ll press it flat after turning it right side out.

Pin the ends of the tube together and stitch a seam along each end using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Peek inside the mat to make sure unpainted portions of the focus fabric do not show at the side seams. Trim the side seams to 1/4″ if desired.

Gently turn the Magic Mat through the opening in the seam. Use an awl to pus the corners out for nice square corners.

Flatten the placemat and give it a good pressing.

After the mat is pressed flat, top-stitch along the edge of the focus fabric to secure the layers together and to close the opening in the mat. I also top-stitched along the grid lines in the painted fabric. The stitching gives the illusion that the fabric is pieced, but is far less work.

Enjoy your Magic Mats!

Magic Mats really are easy to make, and they are a fantastic way to play with DesignMagic images. They are big enough to show off the repeating designs, and small enough that they can be done quickly. It takes me about 25 minutes to paint one of the panels and less than an hour to assemble a mat. Now that’s what I call magic!

Make Magic Mats for your own home – or make gifts for your friends and family. If you prefer runners to placemats, simply make a longer version of this project. It’s easy!

Download a free copy of the Magic Mats pattern

Visit the Learning Center on our website to download a free, printer-friendly version of the Magic Mats pattern. The pattern is posted on the Design Magic Resources page. You are welcome to make copies for your friends.

Learn more about Design Magic

If you like making Magic Mats, you’ll love Design Magic for Paintstiks on Fabric. Learn to make your own designs, turn them into stencils, and transfer the images to fabric. With Design Magic, you really can design your own fabric!

Design Magic: Make Scrollwork This Summer!

July 20th, 2010

As part of my visit to Bernina University, I offered the dealers and shop owners a free DesignMagic stencil along with a free project. (More on the project at the end of the post.) I was really interested to see which of the 4 stencils (Safari, Scroll, Fractured-X or Wavy Squares) they would choose most frequently.

While all of the stencils were popular, 35% of the dealers chose the Scroll stencil to make the sample for their project. The most frequent comment was that they liked the circular lines of the design — often referred to as “curlicues.”

Here is a photo of the Scroll stencils.

When I created these designs, I was thinking about waves. (If you take one of the curly images and lay it on its side, it looks like a wave breaking — or at least it did in my mind.) But the composite image doesn’t look like water in any way, shape, or form!

Leanne (my trusty assistant) thought the images looked like Scrollwork, and that’s how the stencil got it’s name. (The discussions on names get very interesting at times — much rolling of eyes and tons of laughter as more than a few inappropriate possibilities are tossed about…) But, back to Scrolls…

I used the Scroll design for the very first project I created for the book. I made the little Scrollwork quilt at a retreat last fall. It was really an experiment to see if I could use Design Magic images with patchwork projects (instead of whole cloth), and clearly, the answer was YES! Here’s a photo of the Scrollwork quilt.

Making this quilt led to all of my “aha” moments related to the alignment guides on the pre-cut mylar stencils. when I made the blocks for this quilt, I put them on oversize blocks. Then I had to try to trim them down to size. With some designs that might work OK, but this one was a real bear. All the curves made it tough to find the “corners” for trimming the blocks to size. It was definitely one of those moments when I said “There has to be a better way!” And, of course, there was.

A number of people have asked what color paintstik I used on the Scrollwork quilt. Since there is no “burgundy” in the paintstik line, I made my own by mixing Purple Sage and Alizarin Crimson. (Crimson is a dark red, and the addition of purple tones it down to a nice burgundy.)

Before I go, I want to share one more piece that I made with the Scroll design. This is one of my Magic Mats. I painted this fabric while I was in Orlando. (I’m always happy when I can do double duty by demonstrating on fabric that will actually get used!) I used Chocolate Brown (from the matte color line) on the pink fabric.

I have finished editing the photo sequence for Magic Mats, and I promise to post the instructions shortly.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer. If a rainy day comes your way, grab a paintstik and a brush and make a little Design Magic of your own.

Shelly

It’s a wrap – heading home from Bernina U

July 13th, 2010

It has been a busy week here in Orlando at Bernina University. We opened the Merchant Mall at 7:30 am yesterday so the dealers could do their last minute shopping. (That was a bit early after a couple of leisurely mornings… yikes!) I had a lovely spot in the hall with great neighbors, so it was never a dull moment. Here’s a photo of my space.

It was a lot less space than I have at Quilt Market, so I had to really pare down my samples and display. But I had plenty of room to demonstrate the new Design Magic stenciling process and had a wonderful time talking to dealers, shop owners and educators.

The sample on the table is my new (free) Magic Mat pattern. I love to give away a free easy project at this type of event. I’ll be posting an entry on the Magic Mats shortly, so stay tuned.

Saturday brought a special treat. Brewer Sewing invited about 50 shops from the area who were not Bernina dealers to visit the Merchant Mall. As soon as the door opened, two lovely ladies made a bee-line for my space. Much to my surprise, it was Diane Smith (FiberSmith) and a friend. Diane was one of my original Florida customers. We have spoken on the phone and sent loads of messages back and forth over the years. It was truly a treat to have the opportunity to finally meet in person!

Well, I’m off to the airport and hoping for an uneventful flight. I see that our friends at Delta have oversold the flight, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t get bumped… Here’s hoping this bording pass does me some good!

Fun at Bernina U

July 11th, 2010

I’m in lovely Orlando for Bernina University, the annual training event for Bernina dealers. Most of the dealers are from the US, but a number of Canadian and other international dealers also made the trip.

I’m an exhibitor in the Bernina Store area — it’s like a mini trade show that features a number of vendors that are suppliers to Brewer Quilting and Sewing Supplies. Much like Quilt Market, it’s a chance to visit with and provide product information and quick training to shop owners — in this case, mostly sewing machine dealers.

Most of us flew in on Thursday and got our areas all set up by the end of the day. Friday was a free day for the vendors until the Grand Opening of the Bernina Store, so Joan Ford and I took advantage of the day and hopped a bus over to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. You got it — we went to Disney!

This is my first trip to Florida, and I was not sold on the Disney idea. But I have to say I thought it was amazing, even with temps in the 90s and tons of humidity. We went to see It’s Tough to be a Bug, the African Safari, rode the new Everest roller coaster (ugh!) and finished our day with the Lion King show.

Everything at Disney is in the details, right down to the spider theme 3D glasses for the Bug theme theater, to the frog pattern tiles on the restroom floor. Everywhere you look, the details represent the section of the park you are currently in. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure you could figure out which part of the park you were in without a map if you just looked at the details. It really is amazing.

I’m off to work for the day, so I’ll post more about BU later.

Get your books signed at the Minnesota Quilt Show!

June 14th, 2010

It’s the middle of June, so it must be time for the Minnesota Quilt Show and Conference in St. Cloud, MN. As a Minnesota girl, I love this event. The MN Quilters put on one of the largest quilt shows in the United States, and perhaps the largest by a volunteer organization.

I worked at this show for many years as a vendor (when I was hand-dying fabric) and as a teacher. One of the biggest thrills of my teaching years was the invitation to teach at this show, as they usually reserve their teaching slots for national instructors.

This year, I’ll be attending rather than working, but I’ll be signing books for a short time on Thursday and Friday (June 17 & 18) between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. for Laura Murray Designs, a vendor at the show. Laura’s vendor booth will be poolside at the Kelly Inn.

We’ll have copies of my new Design Magic book on hand along with Paintstiks on Fabric. Laura also carries a large variety of painstiks products, so you’ll find everything paintstik-related that you could possibly want.

Pick up Susan Stein’s new Textile Art book too!

Susan Stein, who graciously provided all the lessons on stenciling for our blog, will also be signing copies of her newest book at the Minnesota Quilt Show. You can meet Susan and have her sign your books on Saturday, June 19th from 12 noon – 1:30 p.m., also at Laura Murray Designs.

(If you missed Susan’s lessons on stenciling, check the Blog Archives for November 2009 – February 2010)

Susan’s latest book is titled The Complete Photo Guide to Textile Art (Creative Publishing International), and it is a treasure! It’s an indispensable reference guide for anyone who wants to embellish fabric and suitable for beginners and experienced fiber artists. Here’s a picture of the cover.

If you can’t come to the Minnesota Show…

If you hadn’t figured it out by now, Susan, Laura and I are all from Minnesota and we have a very strong connection to the state quilt show. We have many fond memories of working this show in one way or another, and would love to add meeting you to the list!

If you can’t join us in St. Cloud this week, hop on over to Laura Murray Designs on the web. You’ll find all manner of fascinating fiber art goodies, including our new books.

I hope to see you in St. Cloud!

Design Magic: On Safari with Margo!

June 2nd, 2010

After much holding of breath and saying of prayers, the first copies of Design Magic arrived in my office just a few days before Spring Quilt Market. I felt totally blessed that the book arrived in time — and that Spring Market was held in Minneapolis this year. We’re just a few hours away from the Twin Cities, so I didn’t even have to drive as far as the airport.

Once the book arrived and everything was packed, I decided to take a few hours to make something special for myself using the cover fabric from the book. I’ve already worn out the Primrose tote that started my Design Magic adventure, so I decided to make the new Margo bag from my good friend Joan Hawley at Lazy Girl Designs.

Margo is a delightful bag with a zipper at the top — and leave it to Joan to figure out such an easy method for adding a zipper! Margo is a little bigger than I would normally make for a purse (I like them SMALL so I don’t carry too much junk…) but she is going to be perfect once my iPad arrives.

I used the Safari design and a Grape (matte color) paintstik to paint this beautiful piece of hand-dyed fabric. As soon as I finished, I knew it was perfect for the the cover of the book, and I have to say that it made a fabulous bag as well. I had a hard time cutting into this piece of fabric to make something I’m sure to wear out, but hey –  what good is beautiful fabric if it just sits in the closet? If I wear it out, I’ll just have to make a new one!

More about the Safari Design

Matthew Mills, my very talented graphic designer, created the Safari design for me when I was working on the book, and I have to say it is one of my favorite designs. The design is printed in the book so you can make freezer paper stencils from it, or you can purchase our pre-cut mylar Safari stencils. The mylar stencils have several advantages — they are already cut (of course!), you can see through the mylar, and all the alignment guides are etched into the stencils to make your life easier as you paint the images on fabric. Here is a picture of the Safari stencils. (You can see all the new stencils on our New Products page.)

And here a closer look at the Safari design on a piece of the Gradations fabric from Benartex.

I used this set of stencils to make the On Safari quilt project that is included in the Design Magic book.

On Safari is a super-simple quilt. The 4 large panels are painted on fat quarters that are then trimmed to size for insertion in the quilt top. I just quilted in the grid lines. I was surprised how many people at spring market thought it was appliqued or pieced.

At any rate, you can go on your own Safari Design Magic adventure. Make a Margo bag, make a quilt, you decide! Whatever you choose, it will be lots of fun.

Deisgn Magic: Primrose Projects

May 11th, 2010

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!

Make a little Design Magic!

May 6th, 2010

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

Stencil with Modeling Paste ~ Playing with Stencils 10

February 22nd, 2010
Susan Stein

modeling_paste_triartModeling paste is a fascinating art material that can be used on fabric. It can be applied quite heavily, yet it remains flexible when it dries. You can stitch through (dry) modeling paste without damaging needles or your sewing machine — it’s a very interesting tool for adding dimensional texture to your fiber art.

Supplies:

~ Maple stencils [Cedar Canyon Textiles]
~ Flexible Modeling Paste by Liquitex®, Tri-Art® or similar [art or hobby store]
~ Palette knife
~ White fabric, 10” by 12”
~ Dye-na-Flow™ paint by Jacquard
~ Sponge brushes
~ 8” by 10” stretched canvas [art or hobby store]
~ Adhesive spray such as 404 [Spray and Fix]
~ Copper foil [art or hobby store]
~ FabriTac™ glue, masking tape

Step 1

Spray adhesive onto the back of the stencil and let dry.  Press the stencil onto the fabric.

Step 2

modeling_paste_1

With a palette knife, smooth modeling paste into the openings of the stencil, making it thick and smooth.  Remove the stencil and let the fabric dry.

Step 3

modeling_paste_2

With two or three colors of paint, brush over the dry modeling paste and background fabric.  Spray with water if you want more blending-plenty of liquid, allowed to work on its own, will give you attractive and unexpected results.  Let dry.

Step 4

modeling_paste_3

Wrap the painted fabric around the stretched canvas folding in the corners neatly. Tape the fabric to the back of the canvas.

Step 5

Cut a piece of copper foil 38” long by 1 ½” wide.  (If your canvas is more than 3/4″ deep, cut a wider strip of foil.) Starting in the center on the bottom edge, wrap the copper around the edges of the stretched canvas, with ¼” showing on the front and ½” showing on the back, mitering the corners.  Glue the front edges down and tape the back edges in place.

modeling_paste_sample

You now have a lovely piece of framed art.

Foam Tray Printing ~ Playing with Stencils 9

February 15th, 2010
by Susan Stein

tray_printing_smallHere’s a great use for the foam trays that regularly make their way into our kitchens. Use stencils to turn them into printing plates. With a few colors of thick liquid paint, you can make beautiful prints on fabric.

Supplies:

~ Stencils [Cedar Canyon Textiles]
~ Foam meat tray or to-go box with unmarked surface
~ Craft knife or scissors
~ Ballpoint pen
~ Fabric
~ Paint with body like Lumiere™ or Neopaque™ by Jacquard
~ Sponges or sponge brushes
~ Old terry towel, rubber carpet pad, or newspaper to provide a cushion for printing
~ Plastic cover for printing pad

Step 1

tray_printing_1

Cut off the edges of the foam tray so you have a flat surface.  Tape the stencil to the foam (or spray the back of the stencil with adhesive spray and adhere the stencil to the foam.  Outline the stencil openings with a ballpoint pen, making the lines about 1/8” deep into the foam.

Step 2

Place a printing pad on your work surface and cover it with plastic. Tape the fabric to the plastic covering your printing pad so you can pull the print easily without smearing it.  If you are working on newspaper instead of a printing pad, you can just tape the fabric to the paper.

Step 3

Sponge paint onto the foam, using as many colors as you like.  Work quickly so the paint stays wet and make sure the layer of paint is consistently thin so it doesn’t fill in the lines when you print.

Step 4

tray_printing_black

Turn the foam face down on the fabric and rub over the back with your hand until the paint transfers to the fabric.  Pull the foam off carefully and let the paint dry.  Heat set the painted fabric with an iron.

The first print will be light because the foam needs to be coated a couple of times before it will release the paint to the fabric.  Have several pieces of fabric ready to print and pick the best one for your project.

tray_printing_white

Here is the same print on white fabric.