*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

Learn how to add *Texture* in your work with my NEW Article in Quilting Arts Magazine

 

The Dec2013/Jan 2014 issue of Quilting Arts magazine is out, you can find it here. In there you will find my latest article where I teach you how to add *Eye Popping Texture* to your work.

 Let me show you another idea on how I use this technique by doing Christmas ornaments.

For the hearts I use one of my drop cloth fabrics with a variety of Aurifil 12w thread colors.

After observing the marks left on the cloth I decided which parts to enhance with hand embroidery and I started to work.

Once finished, I cut the hearts out and pasted them on a red fabric.

 After following the directions from the magazine article and having sandwiched the layers together I started free motion sewing around each heart with red Aurifil 28w thread. Then I cut around the heart shape leaving approximately 1 inch of border. Afterwards,I finished the edges with a close zigzag/satin stitch. I then sewed a colorful string on the top and I made a hole in the bottom for little messages.

I hope you will try this technique and start adding texture to your work with an easy way to do trapunto.

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!