Using Paint on Fabric

In September of 2018, our local quilt guild invited an Art Quilt artist and instructor to come and do a lecture and class for the guild.  That artist name was Deborah Boschert.   I don’t consider myself an art quilt type quilter; I lean more toward a traditional looking quilt.  But this artist uses a lot of embroidery in her quilts and that appealed to me so I signed up.

I also bought her book – Art Quilt Collage (C&T Publishing, 2016) ahead of time, which I rarely do with classes and had it read 3 times before the class took place.  Other than embroidery stitches, Deborah uses paint on her quilts.  The first time I read the book, I thought, no that is not for me.  The second time I read the book, I was thinking “Hmmmm that is interesting.” and while reading the book for a third time I found myself at a craft store looking at paints.

Now the paint Deborah uses often is just regular acrylic craft paint. No fancy fabric paint, just the kind of paint to use on wooden crafts or ceramic knick knacks.  Now if you think, what I thought, “but wait that is not permanent and when you wash the quilt it will come out”, you are right.  But these aren’t quilts that you cuddle in and possible wash if they get dirty.  These are art quilt.  You hang them like pictures on a wall – no washing involved.

So when my brother asked what I wanted for Christmas, I put on the list acrylic paint and sponge brushes.  I have no idea if I will use paint a lot or even at all in my quilts but I wanted to try something new.  So below is my adventure with paints and fabric.

aluminum tray

I decided to work in the kitchen in case I needed water.  I covered the table with paper so I could get as messy as I wanted and used a tin tray from some pastries to hold my paint (like a palette). 

fabric I used

I just took a scrap of fabric to begin with, nothing fancy or even very expensive or even, as you can see, straight on all sides.

One design Deborah often uses on her quilts is a circle.  She didn’t buy a fancy stamp or draw out the circle first and paint with a brush over the line (although she could have), no she used the end of a toilet paper roll. Well, my recycling heart loved that. 

toilet paper rolls

I started by pouring some paint in the aluminum tray.  I didn’t even spread it around to even it.  I did that with the edge of the paper tube.

paint on tray

The next step was to dip the edge of the roll into the paint and start stamping.

dip paper roll in paint

start stamping

And what is fun about the paper roll is you can squeeze it in to all kind of shapes.  Squeeze the sides a little to make an oval shape. 

Oval paper tube

oval stamps

Flatten it down and then open it and flatten it to make a crease on the other (un-creased side) and open it again, and you have a square shape

flatten paper roll

paper roll shaped into a square

stamped squares

And if you read any of my other experiment demos, I had to make a heart (you just have to do that with a blog called Heartfully Cheryl).  I squeezed it like the oval and then on one side where it was creased I opened the edges and pushed the crease inwards and just fiddled with it until it looked like a heart. 

heart shape tube

heart stamp

Now to see the solid even amount of paint on your stamp you have to dip it in the paint each time you stamp.  If you dip it in the paint and then keep stamping, the paint will lighten and become uneven.  Some obsessive people might not like it but as you can see the fading paint creates its own unique look.

circles with various amount of paint from paper roll

One thing I did learn was to lift the stamp/paper roll off the fabric straight up from the surface.  It you lean a little one way or another; you might get a little smudge from the paint that has gone up the side of the paper roll.  What surprised me about this is I actually liked that look and I am usually one who wants things even all the way around (no smudges).

smudges in top row of squares

Now of course, you do want to let it dry thoroughly before you use it for anything.  I plan on giving mine at least a couple of days to dry.

You might be asking “what are you going to do with that fabric, Cheryl?”  I have absolutely no idea right now.  But now I have some fabric with new designs that can be added into a quilt as a background, or cut it out into a shape like I would any other printed fabric.  I will let you know when I do use it.

I have to say that was fun.  Almost like finger painting without the fingers.  And it felt a little mischievous to be purposely putting paint on fabric.  It’s not something you are taught to do as a quilter.  So the next time you get the feeling of “nope, that is not for me” consider actually doing it.  You might have some fun.

P.S.  If you are thinking about doing art quilts, definitely get Deborah’s book . Art Quilt Collage.  It takes you from inspiration to finishing. And if you ever get to take a class with her, DO IT.  She is a wonderful teacher and her class was great fun.

©2019  Cheryl Fillion