In last Monday’s post, I talked about projects you can make with the Primrose Stencils including the big (huge?) Woodland Flowers Quilt. If you missed it, I also said this was NOT the first Design project I would tackle if I were new to paintstiks or Design Magic. (It’s not a difficult quilt, just a […]
Thinking About Spring With Primrose Projects
We had a few days of sunshine and warmer weather last week, just enough for my spring fever to kick into gear. Since it will be months before I can poke around in the garden, I’ll have to be content to poke around my studio and play with flowers indoors. When it comes to flowers, […]
Paintstiks, Stencils & Suede: A Gorgeous Combination!
In the middle of December, I holed up in my studio for a weekend and started playing with the suede I got from Bella Nonna Design Studio. Jayme and Megan have a new line of leather and suede, and Megan came to see me at the Houston Quilt Market to see if our Shiva Paintstiks would work with the leather.
I found that the finished leathers were not terribly interesting — it’s difficult for the paint to adhere to the smooth finish. But the suede — oh my goodness — it’s nothing short of fabulous! You really have to give this a try. It’s beyond fun and the possibilities for the finished suede are endless.
Bernina Likes Shelly’s Magic Mats!
I just got a lovely note from a friend to tell me that Bernina is featuring my Magic Mats in Issue 4 of Through the Needle, a free online publication. I knew the article was coming, but it’s always a thrill to see one of my projects in print. Happy me! Because we have so many new people in our community, I want to share the Magic Mats tutorial that I posted last summer. Enjoy!
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!
Cold Weather Play Day – Paintstiks on Leather
I always chuckle when I see “bitterly cold” in the weather forecast, but that was about the best description for our weather last weekend. We dodged the snow storm that buried the Twin Cities, but it was colder than cold and the wind was howling. Definitely a good weekend to hibernate in my studio. I had an itch to try something new, so I pulled out the beautiful pieces of yummy colored suede that I acquired at the Houston Quilt Market. (Yes, one of the dangers of attending quilt market is the temptation to do a little shopping with the other vendors…)
Jayme Crowe and Megan Cook over at Bella Nonna Design Studio have introduced a new line of sewing leather. They sell it in 4″ squares and 8.5″ x 11″ pieces. Megan brought a few squares over to our booth at Houston to see if we could stencil designs on the leather with paintstiks. I’m happy to say the answer is most definitely yes! Here’s what I did this weekend.
Free Project: Wreath Quilt
If you’ve picked up your copy of the Quilting Arts Gifts issue, you’ve probably seen our ad featuring a Wreath quilt. (Our ad is right inside the back cover – very easy to find!) I wanted to give a gift to each you this holiday season, so I’ve posted the instructions for the Wreath Quilt on our Learning Center page. The pattern is listed under Downloadable Lessons and is also posted on the DesignMagic Resources Page.
Free Project: Shelly’s Magic Mats
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! […]
Design Magic: On Safari with Margo!
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.
Deisgn Magic: Primrose Projects
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 […]
Got rubbing plates? Make patchwork!
I’ve been busy this summer working on a new pattern called Paintstik Patches. It started off to be a holiday quilt, but it’s really more than that, so I changed the name. (I just love being able to do that!) The pattern came back from the printer last week, and we’ve been busy shipping orders […]
Easy Paintstik Placemats
Welcome to Day 10 of the Minnesota Designer’s Blog Hop. I’m so glad you stopped by to join the fun. I’m Shelly Stokes, and I’m the owner of Cedar Canyon Textiles. Most people know me as the “paintstik lady.” I discovered this wonderful paint product about 10 years ago in a book from the UK. […]
Fixing mistakes, Using multiple colors
I got the first set of plates from our new Happy Holidays set at the end of last week, so I had a good excuse to push all the paperwork aside and pull out my paints. (I love days when I have a good excuse to ignore all that “office” work!) I remembered to grab […]
