I do everything from painting my own art quilts to teach five year olds how to paint their own design on a t-shirt.

But do I necessarily use the same fabric paint for every project?

Of course not!

There are lots of different fabric paints on the market these days.  You can find everything from inexpensive squeeze bottles of puffy paint to high-end designer paints that can cost more than a meal.  I recommend playing around with different products to see what you like the best.

And don’t forget that by mixing in a fabric paint or textile medium into standard acrylic paint you’ve turned it into a permanent fabric paint.  The medium makes the acrylic paint dry to a softer hand and after you heat set it (according to the bottle instructions) it’s permanent and washable.

I quite often use a textile medium mixed with Golden fluid acrylics for my own art quilts.   It gives you lovely, rich colors and blends nicely on the fabric.

For kids t-shirts you can definitely go with a less expensive paint however   I’ve had quite good results using a student-quality acrylic paint, mixed with medium, for kids projects.

As with any paint on fabric, make sure to use a thin layer – it doesn’t dry well if you leave clumps of paint…

image: Stock.xchg

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Tips & Tricks for Painting on Fabric

“Color Harmony for Quilts – A Quilt Makers Guide to Exploring Color” by Weeks Ringle & Bill Kerr is a fantastic addition to the fiber artist’s bookshelf.  It’s not an instruction manual, more of a guide to using colors more effectively in your quilts, either art or traditional.

The book begins with a discussion of basic color concepts like the color wheel, how color affects our perceptions and even how to find inspiration in the real world.

The authors use traditional and modern quilt blocks in their discussions, with several examples in different colorways being shown.  They show how subtle changes in color can make a huge difference in the finished product.  Changing proportions, hue, value and even placement of color in blocks are all shown.

Group exercises for a critique group are also shared for each example.  They also created individual color exploration exercises if you prefer to work solo, or don’t belong to a guild or group.

The gallery section is absolutely inspiring, with quite a few quilts from master fiber artists.

image: Amazon (disclaimer – this is not an affiliate link, nor do I receive any compensation for sharing this book review)

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Favorite Books: Color Harmony for Quilts

They’re hosting a retrospective of 300 years of British quilts, from 1700 right up to the present day.

The exhibit will begin in March 20th,  2010, and continue through until July 4th, 2010.  They’re going to be showing quilts from their archives that have never been shown before.  You’ll have a chance to see heavily embroidered silk & velvet bed quilts from the 1700s, as well as some of the best in contemporary British art quilting.

There are 65 quilts in the show, divided into five different sections.  I love the fact that they’re also providing information about the quilt makers themselves.  For instance, a cot quilt is being exhibited along with the maker’s diary and photos of the children that slept under it.

The curator, Sue Prichard also has a fascinating blog where you can catch up on behind-the-scenes shots and lots of interesting tidbits about the collection.

image: Stock.xchg

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300 Years of Quilts at the V & A in England

The new calendar will feature the theme “Flavor of the Month” and they want you to use fiber art to express your creative take on the theme.

Think about the different “flavors” you could incorporate into your art quilt or mixed media artwork.  How would you express the crispness of snow?  What about the feel of autumn – apples, falling leaves – I can think of lots of flavors that could be used!  How would  summer taste – would you go for the salty tang of the beach or the smell of ripe fruit from an orchard?

There are very specific rules you must follow to be eligible – but the winner for each month’s image will win a $200 prize pack!

• You must create an artwork that is exactly 12″ X 12″ (they photograph it at real size for the magazine).
• Quilting Arts requires three 8″ X 10″ photos of the quilt (one full page, and two detail shots).
• There can’t be any kind of copyright infringements and it must be your own original work.
• It is for an art quilting magazine – so don’t forget it must be embellished, quilted or use mixed media techniques.

image: Quilting Arts

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Share Your “Flavor of the Month”

Do you find all the different options confusing though?  Needle turn?  Raw edge?  Satin stitch?  What’s a fiber-aholic to do?

Each techique has it’s benefits (and disadvantages) and some of them work better for certain uses than others.  Is your project strictly art or for decorative use only?  Or is this something that’s going to get used well and washed frequently?

For instance, I’ve cut these cute little motifs out of another piece of fabric and want to applique them onto a baby quilt.  But let’s face it, it’s going to get grimy and need to be washed frequently.  For me, the best option is to fuse the motifs in place with your favorite fusible web and then satin stitch over the edges.

Machine satin stitching just means setting the zig zag stitch length to almost zero on your sewing machine.  You get a dense, wide stripe of stitching that does a great job of holding all those little raw edges in.

I frequently use raw-edge applique for my art quilts, but it’s certainly the most fragile method – and not one I’d use for something that’s going to see much time in the washing machine.  For raw-edge applique I either fuse the motif or just pin it in place and then straight stitch around the outside.  It gives a softer, more organic feel to the finished piece, which I quite like.

If you want a clean edge with no visible stitching, needle turn applique is your method.  Here’s a great step by step how-to for doing it yourself.

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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Applique Options

I’ve got two more photos to share today, and as long as today’s thunderstorm holds off – we’ll get to them!

I mentioned yesterday that one of my favorite creativity building exercises is to think about how I would interpret an image as fiber art.  What kind of fabric would I use?  Do I use mixed media or raw fiber elements?  How about machine or hand embroidery?

These leaves were covered in a soft down, making them almost look like velvet.  Which of course, makes me wonder how velvet or velveteen would work to make this into an art quilt.  Pile fabrics can sometimes take very soft dry brushing to add subtle layers of color – perfect for adding shading to the leaves.

I love the love bright color and sheer happiness of this flower!  I think that this would be a fun piece to make using strands of novelty yarn, couched or embroidered onto the surface.  I might even use metallic threads to enhance the bold nature of the flower.

images: © C Findlay-Harder

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Using Natural Texures In Fiber Art: Part 2

They have two different projects on the go right now, the first is a traveling quilt show the acknowledges the impact of Alzheimer’s.  It’s currently touring through the USA until 2010.

The project is currently in the call for entries stage.  “Priority: Alzheimer’s Quilts” is for quilts that measure 9″ by 12″ – a very do-able size!  The quilts will be auctioned off to raise money for Alzheimer’s research.  You can even donate multiple quilts to help the cause.

There are several rules that must be followed, so read the entry requirements carefully

image: Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative

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The Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative

I got on a fabric kick recently, and took a couple of days to whip up some painted fabrics that I could use as backgrounds for other projects. Part of the fabric piece shown below ended up as a small beaded quilt.   For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sharing some fabric painting techniques with you.  To get ready, gather up some plain muslin, acrylic paints (they don’t have to be fabric paints), sponges and brushes, and some stencils or stamps.  Tomorrow, we’ll look at how to paint fabric in a plastic bag!

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Fabrics, fabrics, fabrics

The basic technique involves wetting the fabric either with water, vinegar (for a faster process) or a combination of both.  The wet fabric is used to wrap around rusting iron pieces, covered and then left to work.  Of course, the sky is the limit for what kind of effects you can get – think about all the different interesting metal shapes are out there!

Rust-Tex wants to encourage the use of rusted fabric in fiber art and has put together a competition and  exhibition of art quilts using rusted fabric.  You can find the call for entry and more information here .  The competition closes on January 10th, 2010 with the winning quilts being exhibited at the Festival of Quilts in England during August 2010.

image: Stock.xchg

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Did You Know That Fabric Can Rust?

The Quilting Arts Book
Patricia Bolton, editor

I really enjoyed reading through the collected articles in this book: the tagline is “Techniques and inspiration for creating one-of-a-kind quilts”, and this book is full of exactly that.  From composition to piecing, applique, embellishing, machine or hand stitching, The Quilting Arts Book covers it all.

The Quilting Arts Book is available through Interweave Press at the website link above.  Check out The Bookshop for lots more links to books about art quilts in addition to this fine guide!

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Book review: The Quilting Arts Book