2016 Topic 13: Paper Piecing Urtica Well hello everyone, Darcy here bringing you a brand new topic. For the next fortnight we will be exploring Paper Piecing. We will be encouraging you to paint and decorate papers to use, or even better use up all your old scraps. If you like jigsaws then you will love paper piecing, and the arrangements can be as simple or as complicated as you wish. First let's clear any confusion about what paper piecing actually is and how it differs from Foundation paper piecing, which is a fabric term. In fabric patchwork there are many patterns that require sharp,clean,crisp edges of fabric to be stitched together. In order to make this easy, there is a technique known as paper piecing, this has been around since the 1770's. Paper is cut, very accurately and then placed onto fabric and basted in place. The fabric is then folded around the paper and pressed. This gives the very sharp accurate edges to the fabric that are needed. Once the fabric pieces have been sewn together the paper templates from inside each piece can be removed. This is a fabric patchwork that has been made using the paper piecing technique inside the fabric to achieve those crisp lines and accurate points. SchenleyP Now for paper piecing as used in paper crafts. For this technique all you need is pretty paper, whether that be scrapbook paper or painted paper. Cut apart the paper and fit it back together, mixing shapes and patterns to create an image. Think of it as paper patchwork. Simple as that.. you can make it as intricate and as layered as you wish, but more of that later. Before we start, let's see who won the Topic 12: Fabric Challenge... We had some really great entries, did you enjoy playing with fabric? it is certainly very different to paper, did you discover a new love? Fabric can take your crafting in a whole new direction or just take your existing repertoire to a new level. PaperArtsy Fresco paints work brilliantly on fabric, if you didn't get chance to join in with the challenge I hope you will try out fabric soon. The winner of Fabric is: Julie from The Created Page Email Darcy to claim your prize. [email protected] Paper piecing can be lots of fun, this technique limits the need for intricate colouring in, though the cutting out can be time consuming.. of course this depends on your chosen image. Piecing can add lots of pattern, texture and interest. Diane Salter uses Gelli prints to great effect to create this elephant. The end project is just wonderful, so full of interest. Follow the link to her blog HERE for the whole process. These are ATC's, they show perfectly how simple paper piecing can be. Even though they use relatively few papers and patterns they are still fun and eye catching. You can see they utilise scrapbooking papers, but mainly just scraps. Memmu This card from Carol again shows how much impact can be achieved from a relatively simple design and just 2 patterns. This next example uses piece photographs instead of patterned papers. This could be a brilliant way to create a memory from holiday snaps. Gerren Lamson Note how the pieces are butted up to each other and they are of a similar weight/medium,style; this is where the technique varies from Collage. A collage usually comprises of pieces that are over lapping and built to form layers, also the pieces do not need to have anything in common. A paper pieced project will use similar weight papers only, whereas a collage utilises book text, fabric, scrapbook paper and all forms of ephemera. This technique can be used in scrapbook layouts, on cards and as mixed media projects, but size it up and you can cover furniture too. Bryonie Porter Or how about this utterly gorgeous paper pieced/patchwork wall, made with vintage wallpaper. Hen So now that we have seen lots of 'flat' projects, how about adding some dimension and creating layers with your 'piecing' When choosing your papers it is important to consider the patterns carefully. Take into account the size and repetition of the patterns, and how they will look on a small scale project. Keep your patterns small, and mix in some plain papers to add balance. You could paint your own papers and add a patterned stamp to create patterned paper. Here is another take on the technique, more patchwork than piecing, but still it uses very pretty papers to create this sampler. The folded edges here add lots of dimension and the buttons really add lots of interest. Leeann Pearce Here is another take on the subject, these are very much mixed media, but paper is involved. I love how they are joined. Donna Downey This one is a bit out there with regard to the technique, is it paper piecing? Well it is pieces of paper, so I guess so! maybe that is stretching the technique a little far, but I really like these tags and I thought you might like them too. Christine Paper piecing has been using in scrapbooking for a long time, it is a great way to add fun characters to a layout. There are thousands of patterns all over the Internet. Mostly they are characters like this snowman. See how each of the pieces has an inked edge, that is something to remember as it makes each piece pop and adds subtle dimension and shading. D . Anderson Traditionally, paper piecing only involves glue, but why not add stitching? there is nothing to stop you, it will add interest and dimension, go for it! Manuela A brilliantly simple way to use this technique would be to create a journal cover, like this one by Els; you could go crazy with colours and patterns. Now how to categorise this one, is it paper piecing? or altered art, some of the pieces are collaged, and it is definitely mixed media. Wherever it belongs it is a great idea and would be a great way to use up paper scraps. SheepBlue Finally let's look at how stamps can be used. This technique makes more out of your stamps, instead of plain images you can have instant colouring in and pattern, and each will be a little different. In this example Kalina has used a digi stamp, patterned papers and colouring in for the skin and shading. This is a great opportunity to take another look at your stamps, which ones will look good over patterned paper? Which ones have 'sections' making it easy to build up the image. This card from Jo Firth Young has utilised the technique and added great patterning to the flowers. Here is a short video from Ruth showing how to stamp and place your patterned, stamped pieces. One last example, I couldn't resist this pieced doggie, perhaps you could do this and create a pieced portrait of your own pet! Simon Hart Now we have seen lots of examples, what will you have a go at? freestyling your own images, using a pattern/template, stamping? There are so many ways to tackle this topic. If your thing is fabric then by all means have a go at the fabric foundation (paper piecing) technique. As collage, paper piecing and decoupage have many similarities and cross over areas it is perfectly reasonable to be able to use them all in your mixed media work. Don't forget to follow Darcy's and Leandra's pinterest boards if this topic pushes your buttons, you will see plenty more examples to whet your appetite there! However you choose to interpret this topic I am really looking forward to seeing what you create over the next 2 weeks! Darcy Topic 13: Paper Piecing PaperArtsy Blog Challenge We'd love you to share your ideas and link up your creative response to our current blog topic. Take a minute to read the challenge guidelines below. All links go in the draw to win a voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Paper Piecing link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, July 10th, winner will be announced 1 hour later at 18:00. 1. The challenge is a for you to show how you are inspired by the current blog topic. Your entry should contain: - a mention of which post inspired you and why, and - a link in your blog post to that original post on the PA blog. The whole concept of this challenge is 'play along with us'. You are encouraged to put your own twist on ideas you see on our blog, do your own thing - whatever grabs you! 2. The link you put on our linky page must lead directly to the specific post on your blog where you have explored the technique/ idea mentioned in point 1 above. Don't link to the home page of your blog. 3. We prefer your challenge blog post is created exclusive to our challenge, but if our topic fits perfectly with another challenge, then you may link to both if appropriate. 4. You are most welcome to use stamps/ products/ substrates you have to hand from a variety of companies, we do not expect you to exclusively use PA products - it's lovely when you do though! 6. You can enter as many times as you like. We don't want to restrict your creativity! NB. Link closes at 17:00 Sunday July 10th (London Time) 7. The winner of the random draw will receive a £50 credit voucher to be redeemed on the PaperArtsy Website. The credit voucher includes VAT and postage. We request that one of your purchases is an A5 rubber stamp. You can add any other items to your basket, but the final total should not exceed £50. 8. Each fortnight on Sunday, the winner will be announced at 19:00 (London time). In the same post, the link for the next fortnight will be posted. 9. It's your responsibility to claim your prize coupon from Darcy. email: [email protected] Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!