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This store is being built with the crafty seamstress and quilter in mind--
the 11 1/2 inch tall kind, preferably.

The scissors on the cutting table shown here are a wee bit over one inch long, and the bolts of polymer clay cloth are the size of business cards. Designers who are helping to stock this fabricated fantasy store include Jana Roberts Benzon, whose "remnants" are shown on the table, Karen Sexton with bright and beautiful blends stacked on the left, Dayle Doroshow, Diane Luftig, Leigh Ross, Sarah Shriver, Carol Simmons, Judith Skinner, Sarajane Helm, and many others.

Shopping bags, miniature "books" and all sorts of paper and carboard bits come into play in putting together the accessories and merchandise shown here.

These tiny titles were cut from a catalog provided to me by F/W Publications, who gave us permission to use the cutouts in photographs.

They publish quilting books--and quite a few polymer clay books too.

Using the images as cut-outs in a collage format does not violate copyrights because I don't make a copy---but the pictures here are copies, so its best to ask! They graciously said "Yes". (Thank you!).

After being glued to more carboard and cut again, they are just the right size for a fashion doll with a creative side!

Shopping bags, boxes and all sorts of containers can be made easily with paper print-outs made using templates and your own logo design. Different logos and typeface styles can be tried until you find what you like. You can even print on beautiful papers of your choice!

The design for a quilt store logo calls for different images and fonts than a fashion boutique (and thats coming next---do stay tuned for more here at the Polyclay Gallery pages). The one used for the quiltblock image is a dingbat font called Amish Quilt.

Another big "thank you" goes to Polyform Products, the suppliers of Premo Polymer clay used in creating the store, and in the quilt block cane adaptations featured in this book. The designs will show polymer clay colors used both "as is" and in custom mixes that are shared in this book!

Starting from the floor and moving on up, this store is built on a base of Styrofoam(TM) manufactured by Dow Chemicals for use as insulation.

Many railroad and other scale model builders use it as a basis because it is lightweight and easily shaped with a hotwire foam cutter.

This should always be done with adequate ventilation and supervision.

Foam can be shaped, glued, painted, plastered or treated with other techniques. I do NOT advise baking pieces of it---it is better to cover them with baked decorative elements instead. Krylon's new plastic spray paint works well with it too. Other spray paints can cause a textured look that mimics stone.

The room starts out much like a stage set, with light weight foam board walls duct taped into place. It is cut to fit neatly onto a 2 foot by 4 foot folding table.

These walls are a soft speckled gray, but white foam board can be painted or papered to fit any style of decor.

The unfinished shelves and counters are positioned to help figure the store layout. 

The floor is laid with 3/4 inch polymer clay tiles. Of course, black and white wasnt enough---it had to be SHADES of black and white faux stone, with the occassional touch of gold. It took a while to get the pattern just right and evenly placed. The design is based on the same Amish Quilt Block that was chosen as part of this store's logo.

There's a LOT of work still to come. Edges need finishing, shelves need stocking with lots of lovely little designs...but more arrive or are made right here every day!

Here's how it looked on 05-15-06.

Then, with the addition of well over a hundred "bolts" from the artists at the NPCG retreat at Shrinemont in May of 2006 you can see the shelves are filling right up! There's still a LITTLE room left---but there are several designers still sending in their collections. Bryan said to put something in a picture that would show the actual scale, so there's an altoid tin on the floor. The bottoms of two tins were used to form the "planter" boxes on the tops of the shelves.

Here's how it looked on 06-01-06.

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Polymer clay quilts were created by Judith Skinner and Sarajane Helm to grace the walls and cutting table. These miniature wall hangings are all cane slices from patterns shown in the new book!

Adapting Quilt Patterns To Polymer Clay features more than a dozen traditional quilt block designs made using polymer clay in many techniques including the Skinner Blend .

This technique was also used to make a "spider plant" leaf cane, which was used to create the planters above the shelves. Luckily they don't need watering!

The book will show how to build and reduce them, and what can be done with the beautiful results.

In addition, we'll have chapters on creating floral and geometric "fabric" with millefiore canes and mosaics.

Plus, we have a gorgeous gallery of fabulous work by other contributing artists who work in polymer clay using inspiration from quilt designs.

And now that its all together--here's another look!