Painting Fabric

Figure B

Steps:

Fabric Painting
1. Stretch and staple white cotton fabric to a wooden frame to create a canvas. Higher thread count fabrics frays less and are easier to manipulate than coarser weaves.

2. Spritz water on canvas.

3. Dilute paint and, using brush and textile paint, paint stretched, white cotton fabric which is stapled to a wood frame (figure B). Make sure paint is brushed into canvas — not just lying on the fabric.

Figure C

4. Add rock salt to painted canvas (figure C), making sure one piece of rock salt doesn’t touch another. Spritz again. Let dry away from direct sunlight.

Figure D

5. When fabric is dry, brush off rock salt. Iron the fabric with hot iron to set paint. Rinse with cold water by hand until the rock salt residue disappears. Allow fabric to dry then iron again. Cloth will return to original soft texture (figure D).

Figure E

Fabric Manipulation
Fabric will behave better if it is ironed to the waxy side of freezer paper. Select various segments of the painted fabric which best represent the segment of the quilt you are creating. With a pencil, draw shapes on fabric (figure E), cut out shapes with scissors then remove freezer paper. Iron small pieces of fusible web to back side of each cut piece. When all pieces arranged in a final draft, use a warm iron over the not-yet sewn or quilted surface.

Figure F

Quilting
Using a natural cotton batting, secure all layers with safety pins. Make certain pins penetrate all layers and pin every three inches. Quilt using a free-motion machine quilt technique (figure F).