Quilting was always a tame hobby for me. I spent many years buying fabrics in coordinated packs so that I did not have to make those difficult color decisions. I tended toward simple, traditional designs. My motto was, "It did not matter if the stitches were straight on a quilt; in fifty years, it was still a family heirloom."
Then something happened to me a few years ago, and I began to explore creating designs for fabric, using paint and ink, to have quilts that reflected my own artistic sense instead of only that of fabric manufacturers. I am largely self-taught in the methods I will show you, although there are some good DVDs and free videos online and books to help.
![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/Paint%20on%20fabric/th_P1010001.jpg)
Here is a sample of what I use when painting on fabric. I use plain fabric, in this case, black or light colors. To create designs, I have some antique wood Afghani blocks. (Similar blocks are available at the shop Ten Thousand Villages.) I have plastic rubbing plates, with raised designs. I use some stencils, stencil brushes, Shiva Paintstiks(called Marcal brand in Europe), some fabric paint(Jacquard Lumiere, for shiny colors) and Fabrico dual-tip fabric pens. In this photo I have some letter stencils that stick to fabric, and some hand-carved African adinkra symbols, which I did not use but are really cool. They appear white because I was recently using soy wax on them for batik designs.
![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/Paint%20on%20fabric/th_P1010007.jpg)
To begin with the Shiva Paintstiks, imagine you are working with a fat crayon. It is actually an oil stick, real paint that must dry in real time(four to six days). These sticks have a self-seal so to use, a good rub against a paper towel gets the coating off. I then put the wood block underneath. If I have a large piece of fabric, my best trick in to secure it with a rubber band on top of the block. If it is a smaller piece, I just hold it on tape it down(as I did here).
With the fabric pulled tightly, use the crayon's flat surface to lightly rub to reveal the design. You may find some flakes of paint on the design - a piece of masking tape can be used to lift those off. Let the design dry overnight and it will be dry to the touch, so you can add another color, cut and sew it. Wait for four days or so, and then heat set it with a hot, dry iron. Otherwise you will have paint on your ironing board and everywhere else.
To make the words, I stuck on stencils, then put some of the paintstik on a paper plate.
The best way is to put down a strip of masking tape, rub the crayon against it, and load the stencil brush with a bit of paint. Then just brush it lightly several times until you have the depth of color you want.
Now, Fabrico markers. These are just like drawing or writing with a felt-tip pen. One end is a standard tip, and the other is brush-shaped and good for shading. I used the standard tip to make dots and dashes around a round form. You could do rows, alternated colors, just make a happy, light design with these.
![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/Paint%20on%20fabric/th_P1010013.jpg)
Now, Lumiere paint and stencils: This is easy-peasy. Take a small amount of paint onto a paper plate. Using a damp sponge, just brush over a stencil. I learned some techniques to do this lightly in one direction, leaving a bit uncovered in the design to give a brush painting effect. You can use a stencil brush if you want.![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/Paint%20on%20fabric/th_P1010014.jpg)
![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/Paint%20on%20fabric/th_P1010015.jpg)
![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/Paint%20on%20fabric/th_P1010016.jpg)
![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/Paint%20on%20fabric/th_P1010017.jpg)
I am showing a few of these pieces plus more I did, stitched together with some of the fabric I am using.There is no real pattern here, just a jumble of pieces with words like "fun" and "play" and designs, mixed with these amazing animal prints from Zimbabwe.
Here are some examples of other things I have done, mostly clothing but you can get an idea of the many fun possibilities for creating your own designs on fabric.![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/th_neworangeflowertee.jpg)
![](http://s595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/th_P1010060.jpg)
![](http://i595.photobucket.com/albums/tt35/katherine919/th_P1010952.jpg)
Here is a link to all the photos I took for this diary:Fabric Painting photos