A gentil richiesta, gentilmente rispondo :p Ed eccovi qua un tutorial su come usare la freezer paper per fare l'applique... come lo faccio io almeno.

La Freezer Paper è una carta per alimenti plastificata da un lato, che in america si usa per congelare i cibi. Da loro è come la stagnola da noi, si trova al supermercato.
Da noi non esiste nella vendita al dettaglio ma si puo sostituire, come ho gia spiegato, con la carta del macellaio. Mi dicono anche con la carta che avvolge le risme di carta da fotocopie, ma non ho provato in prima persona.
Nel seguente tutorial io ho usato la carta del macellaio (alla quale ho oscurato le scritte) :p ed ho fatto una semplice applicazione a cuore.

Iniziamo (le immaginine son tutte cliccabili per ingrandirle):

1) Prendete un pezzo di "freezer paper" (da qui in avanti FP), e osservatela. noterete che un lato è di carta, l'altro è plastificato, lucido. Disegnate sul lato di carta la forma che vi interessa. Considerate che se è una forma che ha una direzione dovete invertirla.
Una volta disegnata la forma ritagliatela.

2) Ora prendete la stoffa con cui volete fare l'applicazione. Sul retro della stoffa mettete la vostra forma ritagliata di FP, col lato plastificato, lucido, contro il retro della stoffa. Stirate per qualche secondo col ferro ben caldo (io lo metto su cotone) e senza vapore.
Lasciate raffreddare quindi tagliate l'eccesso di stoffa lasciando attorno alla sagoma di FP un bordo di un mezzo cm o poco più.

3) Adesso fate i taglietti di rilascio nelle curve "a valle" e col ferro da stiro rigirate il bordino contro la FP schiacciando bene la piega. Io dopo aver rigirato il bordino lo fisso alla FP con una passata si colla stick sul bordo della sagoma. Non ne serve mica tanta, solo per tener giu la stoffa.
Vi metto anche due immagini che vi spiegano come faccio le punte (la punta nera che vedete è solo per tener giu l'angolo mentre faccio la foto).

4) Ora si prende la stoffa di sfondo e vi si poggia sopra la sagoma dell'applicazione. si puo spillare in posizione, ma io ancora una volta uso la colla stick. Appena un poco sulla stoffa del bordino ripiegato sotto. Cio permette di mantenere la forma in posizione senza slittamenti, non irrigidisce la stoffa (anche perchè comunque la colla resta nel margine di cucitura) e al primo lavaggio se ne va.

5) E ora si cuce. Ho preso un filo in tinta con l'applicazione, ho infilato l'ago e fatto un nodino alla fine del filo. Passo dal retro del blocco al davanti e prendo il bordo dell'applicazione stando ben sul margine.
Rientro quindi nella stoffa di sfondo, allo stesso livello di dove son uscita, vado avanti un pochino e torno al dritto pizzicando ancora il bordo dell'applicazione.
Continuo così a punticini molto piccoli per tutto il bordo.

6) Finita l'applicazione si deve tirar fuori la FP. Dal retro dell'applicazione si fa entrare la punta delle forbici solo nella stoffa dello sfondo, e si taglia via un tassello di stoffa da dietro l'applicazione. In pratica il retro dell'applicazione resta a vista. (c'è anche chi fa solo un taglio sul retro, l'applicazione resta più ciccetta, è solo questione di gusti)

7) Dalla finestra fatta si toglie la FP. Dovete far un po' d'attenzione al bordo che avevate incollato alla stoffa, ma è facile ^_* Se riuscite a tirar fuori la sagoma intera potete anche riutilizzarla ^_^

A questo punto il gioco è fatto, avete la vostra applicazione ^_^

Since at the end of the year the QuiltUniversity is going to be closed, I've decided to take part in the courses I liked, now that I can.
So in these weeks I'm enrolled in the "inspired to design" held by Elizabeth Barton.
The course goal is to learn how to elaborate, select and make a quilt with a studied design, not a casual one, starting from a first inspiration source.

Right now we're playing with lines and shapes

Without thinking too much

With the only aim of end up with tons of designs that we will analyze in a second time

I don't like too much to make abstract art and the actual lines manipulations drive toward the abstraction, but I'm curious to see what I'll end up with :)

When I see something inspirational I use to take a photo.

Something is missing if I only use my camera without much thinking, but I have to admit that the most of the times I see interesting
things when I'm busy doing something else.
I always have with me both my camera and my sketchbook, but usually I see interesting details or things when I'm rushing from one side of the city to the other, and I simply haven't the time to stop and sketch.
Or may be I'm travelling with friends and I can't tell them "ok let's stop here 40 minutes, I've to sketch this nice crack in the wall".
In these cases I can bring with me the source of inspiration with a fast click of my camera.

Different is if I'm out in search of inspiration, alone or if for any reason I have spare time, may be because I'm waiting for someone.
In these cases I like to take out my sketchbook and draw.
Then I'll also take a photo but before comes the drawing.

"Jade Vine" - Photo and sketch - Edinburgh Botanic Garden

When I see something I find inspirational I usually makes a photo of it.

Something is missing if I only use my camera without much thinking, but the most of the times I see interesting things when I'm busy doing something else.
I always have with me both my camera and my sketchbook, but usually I see interesting details or things when I'm rushing from one side of the city to the other, and I simply haven't the time to stop and sketch.
Or may be I'm travelling with friends or my husband and I can't tell them "ok let's stop here 40 minutes, I've to sketch this nice crack in the wall".
In these cases I can bring with me the source of inspiration with a fast click of my camera.

Different is if I'm out in search of inspiration, alone or if for any reason I have spare time, may be because I'm waiting for someone.
In these cases I like to take out my sketchbook and draw.
Then I'll also take a photo but before comes the drawing.

Just when you think you've understood it, you will find new and more complex notions that makes you start again your study from the beginning

Nowadays plastic is everywhere and when a material is largely and easily available is just matter of time that it will be used for crafty and artistic purposes.
Plastic can be found in sheets or rolls, appositely made for crafters, but if we look around us we can find a lot of plastic items suitable for artistic purposes.

Plastic can be:
- Cut with common scissors or a cutter
- Painted and printed with alcohol inks
- Sewn
But overall plastic can be heat treated to be molded, fused, bonded and to create beds and embellishments.
And since every kind of plastic fuse in its own way, with its own texture, an artist can mix different plastic types to make interesting layered, highly textured works.

Since I've never thought about using plastic before, I've decided to give it a try to make another sample for the module I was working on of the Quilt Judging Course.

And this is the finished small sample.

To make this small sample I’ve had to try how different kinds of plastic behave when heated with the iron and the heat gun.
I’ve found that different plastics reacts in a different way (some shrink more, other melts in a second) and that the same plastic behave differently if heated with the iron or the heat gun.
So I’ve tested black garbage bags, white and violet grocery bags and dog poop bags.

I've found that:
Garbage bags: this plastic shrink as soon as the iron touch it but when heated with the heat gun it makes very interesting ripples. If heated more it melts then it harden and becomes more thick and makes holes.
Grocery bags: this plastic shrink slower and less than the garbage bag and doesn’t melt.
Poop bags: they are made of a thin plastic that shrink and melts in a second if heated with the iron but if heated with the heat gun reacts very well with a controllable shrinkage.

I've also tried to make some plastic beads and I've added them to my sample.

After this experience I can say that ... I love to melt plastic and polyester fabrics! It's fun and aalso if you never know what you will end up with, it gives a sense of control on the process... then plastic does what it wants haha!

This is a sample I've made for the Quilt Judging Course I'm attending. Since I had to study and put my hands on matrials new to me, I decided to try leather. This piece is made with leather scraps I was gifted some times ago.

First I’ve cut the yellow layer and its details, then I’ve added the red leather that pass through the yellow one and finally I’ve backed it all with the blue leather.
I’ve used a normal sewing machine with a standard needle to sew the layers.

I’ve added a decorative seam to enhance some details and I’ve painted the back side of the yellow leather, where visible, with red Pantone Pen (an alcohol based ink).

To add something interesting I’ve embossed a copper sheet (using my Big Shot cutting machine) and I’ve cut three squares. The squares are glued to the leather with hot glue.

The day before yesterday it was snow... yesterday it was sunny and warm ... today it's rainy and cold ...
When will the spring arrives?

Meanwhile I try to call it with this wreath outside the door.

If you want to do it the steps are simple:

1 - take a polystyrene base for the wreath and cover it with a green cloth
2 - take some felt in several colors and cut flowers and leaves. If, like me, you have a BigShot and appropriate dies your job will be easier, otherwise you have to arm yourself with patience and scissors
3 - with the holy hot glue attach the leaves on the wreath and then the flowers. Let the flowers overlapping, use large and small flowers and create an harmonious whole.
4 - if you have some plastic half-spheres or beads you can use them as the center of the flowers. If you have wooden ladybirds use those too.
5 - take a piece of green ribbon, fold it in half and glue it on the back of the wreath so that it forms a ring (which will be the hanger point)
6 - cut from the felt a branch and a bird and glue them on the tails of the ribbon.
7 - trim the edge of the ribbon with a diagonal or a V cut.

Hang it, photograph it and be proud of yourself :)

per vedere le immagini ingrandite cliccaci sopra

What can an artist learn by looking at past works? We struggle to find our voice but what if we have a voice that wispers and we don't hear it?
May be a look at the past works can help.

So today I've made a nice thing, I've printed my past original quilts, some more artistic other less, I've cut them and placed on the floor. I've obtained a small quilt collection. (click on pic to enlarge)

This is a mix of totally free quilts and quilts for shows or challenges with specific rules so for some of them I've had to adapt my ideas.

Looking at this photo I see the confirmation of what I already knew: I LOVE circles and spirals. Whenever I can I make a circle quilt, wherever I can I pur circles, rings, mandalas and spyrals. Not always in the main design, sometimes only in the quilting motif.

In the above photo there are 43 quilts and only 9 of them doesn't have some sort of circles or spyrals, and all the 9 were quilts with some restriction due to the challenge or entry form rules.

Looking at my past works I can see that also if violet and purple are my favourite colours, are not the most used. It seems that blue/green are predominant.
And also if I'm happy when I use warm colours, the predominance is of cool colours.
Another thing about colours: I LOVE bright colours with black background or frame.

About techniques I see how I moved from classic applique techniques to dyed, marbled or painted wholeclothes.

About meanings, I use to make not too much complex quilts but to me it's important that a quilt has a deep meaning, may be also a multi-layered meaning.
I'm not too much pictorial, I prefer abstractions and "not too real" style, like fragmented, cubist and snippet.
On the other side in the 2 quilts with naked bodyes and the one with chrocus and chanterelles I've looked to reach a really realistic effect.

Of the above quilts there's one I don't like, the purple one with the hands on top center. I've put toghether lot of things I like but the results make me think "what the hell I was thinking about?"

In my past production  there are small series, like the 2 white/green circles (serie about abuse of man on nature), the 2 black/white circles (titled Adamo and Eva, more a diptych than a serie, a reflection about masculine and feminine being) and the 3 black-framed circles (a serie about the colours of my moods related with a mandala an animal and a goddess).

Then there are the two quilts with the naked man and woman. They are different in shape and construction but they are similar in technique and both their meaning is about the human nature (the man is a representation of pride sin, the woman is a representation of the illusions and fears that have influence on a person's life).

Another diptych is the one made by 2 small quilts with black background and galaxy+comet or egg+sperm cells. These two pieces are based on two Haiku I wrote about "beginnings" (in the photo on right-center)

The most long serie I've made is made of 6 small framed quilts in green/blue with applied shells (in the photo on top left), I made this just for fun.

SOOOOO.....
It seems that I'm sort of DiptychQueen :p
May I take one of my small series and make it grow?
Should I make one serie grow?
Do I WANT to use one of these series as starting point?

AAAARGHHH I DON'T KNOW!

Or to better say, yes I know :p
The answer is NO!

I'm happy with my short series, I feel that they are complete con couples, the only one I've ever thought to add some more elements are the naked bodies quilts.
But the naked bodies needs a great and hard conceptual work and I don't think I want to make a so hard work for the "work in series" course. I want to save my energies to understand and study the concepts behind the course, don't use them to design a new conceptual, deep meaning, quilt.

I think I'll try something totally new this time, just for the course. :)
Ok but... what? Let's think about it :)