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
Modeling 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.
Hey folks! This is the week for the big Minnesota Designer’s Blog Hop! (You can read all about it by clicking on the logo over on the right hand side of your screen.) I’m on my way out of town for the big Bernina University event in San Francisco, so my turn on isn’t until July 1. In the mean time, you can click on over to the other blogs to see what’s happening around the great state of Minnesota.
Once you have a lovely piece of fabric, you can make a wonderful project from it. 
Sue’s segment is all about painting a quilt AFTER it has been quilted. In the photo above, you can see two pieces of fabric with light wavy lines. The first is one of Sue’s discharged fabrics (the black fabric) before quilting. The piece on the corner has been quilted and then painted with Artist’s Paintstiks. Here’s a close-up of that piece.
Here is a detailed image from this quilt. You can see how Sue has changed her quilting pattern in various sections of the quilt. The different motifs are really highlighted after the quilt is painted.
