I bought a patchwork cutter that is 3 sizes of bell. I made a few tonight to start practicing. Wow I may have to find an alternative. Just to tedious.
I need to make alot of these. You have to use an exacto and some come out a little jagged. Anyone else use these? I used fondant with tylose added. ALso I bought some 3 d FMM Bell Molds. No directions with them. I do not know how to make one. Can anyone help me?

Hi, is this the cutter you are talking about .

http://www.globalsugarart.com/product.php?id=17319&name=Bells%20&%20Bows%20Patchwork%20Cutter

Absolutely! They ARE fiddly, even if you are used to using them

I use them by doing as you do - adding tylose to fondant, kneading it properly etc. Then, roll out your fondant/paste/GP, thinly. Make sure you have a nice even dusting of corn flour on both sides. Then you need to leave it for a few minutes to dry it a little and press the patchwork cutter into the GP and rub it firmly back and forth onto the board. Then pick it up and flip it. Use your fingertip to rub over the black cutting edges.

Hold it right way up over your dusted board and use a paintbrush (dry) to gently poke the individual portions through. This is for all the coloured piecxes you want to use iin your design. Of course you only need to use the portion of the cutter you want in a particular GP colour when you do this.

When you are making the first layer however, you need to focus only on cutting the outline. So press it into the GP, but deeper around the edges. Lift off the cutter, and then either use your little roller tool or an exacto to cut the outline. When you have THAT full single-coloured figure (eg a bell), you then use a wet paintbrush to attach the coloured bell-parts (from subsequent full cuts) onto the scored outline-cut piece.

Please ask me if you need clarification. They ARE time consuming, but the effect can be pretty. You need to think of your designs from the base up. So you start with the basic full shape, then add layers in the order you want them. The uppermost layers are those that look best sitting 'proud' on this (essentially bas-relief) style of GP design.

HTH!

Thanks.
I am going to cut them out of white fondant. Dry dust them with super pearl. Then paint bow and horizontal ridges with Super gold. Thanks for your suggestions.

I have given up. I have spent about tree hours and I have very few I can use. I was making bells to put around each tier. I even had a cricut cartridge that had bells on it. Did not work. I might as well sell my cricut cake I have only had minimal success. I can get a little metal bell cookie cutter at Joannes tomorrow. Will have to use that. Very disappointed the patchwork bells are really cute.

I purchased patchwork cutters also and spent hours trying to get the hang of them. Then I tried them again. That was last summer. I was defeated. So, they sit, waiting for me to get up the courage to try again. I could not make anything similar to what I saw in the pics.

I did not know anything about 2 layers. Nothing mentioning that in any instructions.

The other thing they may work better for you (given that there might be differences in my GP here and yours in the USA) is rubbing Crisco onto the cutter before cutting. Some folks prefer that method, but it doesn't work for me.

The Patchwork cutter woman (Marion Frost) recommends using Mexican Paste for the patchwork cutters - please let me know if you would like the recipe. It needs to sit out overnight from memory.

HTH, and sorry I couldn't help you more!

Evoir, I'd be interested in the Mexican paste recipe. I have some patchwork cutters that I've been wanting to use and I also heard that the Mexican paste was better than fondant/gumpaste. So if your don't mind, I'd like the recipe. Thanks!

I have not used these myself. But I did hear someone talk about laying a sheet of plastic wrap over the rolled out gumpaste before applying the cutters. Flip it over and the cutout comes right out with the plastic wrap.

Gerle - no problem, I'm happy to help.

Mix together 8 oz icing sugar and 3 x 5mL teaspoons gum tragacanth.
Add 6 x 5mL cold water.
Knead well.
Store in a plastic bag overnight (not in fridge).

Hope this helps.

Artscallion - I have heard of that technique too, and it might work well for bigger shapes, but I haven't had much success using it with my PWCs. Its worth a try though, right?

Thanks Evoir! I'm going to make some and give it a try.

Related post:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-708134-.html

HTH