*New* Year, *New* challenges



It's a New Year! This time of the year always makes me reflect and think where I am in my life and how this influences my art.
It is always part of a story in progress. I try to use materials in a different way, a way that stretches me in different directions.

I love to challenge myself. And this year will be no different. With all that is happening in the world my need for art has substantially increased.

Currently I am working on a *pieced* quilt, yes it is my first time working with little pieces of fabric. The next picture  shows one third of the quilt. It still is a work in progress. It is composed of 365 little squares. If you do a search online about *Temperature quilts* you will see hundreds of beautiful designs; mine is made from paper, paint and cloth!



The picture above shows a finished pillow based on my workshop *Surprise Printing on the Go* -a portable painting technique.

Do you feel the need to do more art as well?

*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


CrafNapa *Grab-Bags*


Mixed media Butterfly

 *CraftNapa Specials*  are available at my MY STORE



Enclosed are fifteen *unique* labeled surface design fabric/paper pieces, most developed by me. Some techniques has been published and some not yet.

Includes: washable paper-cloth (INC- infused newsprint cloth), foil, flocking, clamp resist with dyes, ghost printing with paint, cheesecloth skin with hand-calligraphy, cheesecloth skin with silkscreened designs, sheer paper-cloth, painted Evolon, ghost printing with rubbings, ghost printing with dye, over dyed and silkscreened cloth, iced dyed fabric, hand carved stamps on fabric, speckle paint.

You can use the fifteen pieces to incorporate within your own work or you can make a butterfly pattern with included instructions. (shown above)


I made a limited quantity and I hope you like them. *Domestic free shipping*. Not international shipping.

Temperature Quilt with *Paper + Cloth + Paint*


 I made this short video to show how I started a temperature quilt. I was going to do it from November 2020 until November 2021 but then decided to include only this year. 

I am using: paper (INC infused newsprint cloth-washable paper-cloth), cloth and paint.

Luckily, you can easily find online the temperature records from any city and or year. It's a challenge since I usually don't do piecing in my work; each block is 2 1/2 inches square but It's exciting at the same time because nature decides which colors to use. At the end it will be a nice surprise when the 365 squares are going to be sewn together.

I am enjoying the slow process.

Have you ever done a temperature quilt? 

I am linked to: ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

*NEW* Article in Quilting Arts Magazine


My latest article is out! Featured in the October/November 2020 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.


As quilters we love texture. Sometimes we like to try to find different kinds of fabrics for just that reason but unfortunately the fiber content can make it tricky to sew. What if I told you that you can transform almost any quilting fabric into a textured piece of cloth? That's the topic of this article. 



By using Flock Sheets on fabric you can create velvety texture. You will need a silkscreen, you can get it at My Store or you can use a stencil that you already have.


The borders of this quilt have been made with this technique. I made 4 different pieces and sewed them together. I think the blue circles make this art quilt sing...don't you think?

I hope you will try this new technique!

You can read  HERE my other latest article where I show how to add texture with paint!

I am linked to: NinaMarie

Stay safe :)

*NEW* Article in Simply Moderne Magazine

 

I have so many news to share but I cannot do it in one post. I will write several entries in the coming days.

My latest article has been released! This is my sixth consecutive year writing for the French magazine Simply Moderne Magazine.


My article shows how to paint quilt blocks with a technique I've called *Speckle Paint*. And believe me when I tell you that you need a cheese grater for this technique.

It is a very complete article, with detailed pictures of every step. It is 8 pages long! I created this technique because *Speckling* has always intrigued me. I tried many different ways through the years and finally I discovered how to do it. Each block is different and yet the end result is a cohesive quilt top since the same design is repeated several times.


You can create your own screens OR you can get a set of two, the same designs I used on my quilt at My Store. 

Also inside this issue there is an article about Quilt National. To promote this event a group of quilts was chosen and to my surprise they included a photograph of my winning quilt as well. That makes me very happy. An unexpected surprise.


And here are some details:


My final quilt ( 50" x 74"):

I hope you will try this new way of painting. It's lots of fun :)
Stay safe!


*LIVE* VIRTUAL Workshops and Lectures



I have been very busy the past weeks setting up my *LIVE* ONLINE classes. You'll be able to watch my videos and follow me during *live* workshops.This will  be a hybrid, the best of both worlds. You can ask all the questions you want. We'll share our experiences and have FUN doing what we love.

Filming and editing the videos with clear steps took a lot of effort to make this work - each class is loaded with information.

I am excited about the new virtual platform and I hope it will bring us together.