Feature article for this issue: Painted Quilts:
Painted whole-cloth quilts are a fun way to inspire young artists and to preserve a moment of your child's life. There aren't really any right or wrong ways of doing these but I will give you suggestions/guidance on how to create one of these fun quilts with your child.
Here are some examples of these types of quilts:
How to make a painted whole-cloth quilt: (click each picture to enlarge)
Materials needed:
1. any size piece of cotton fabric you want to use for the front (I used a 1 meter by 2 meter (or 1 yard by 2 yard) piece of white fabric) ---*white fabric shows up the colors the best by the way
2. backing fabric---needs to be about 3 inches bigger than the top/front fabric on all sides---any color works
3. batting ---about 1-2 inches bigger than the top/front fabric on all sides
HINT: depending on how fluffy you want the quilt to be you can use different thickness of batting
4. fabric for the binding
5. thread to match
6. sewing machine (if going to quilt it by machine) or hand needles if quilting by hand
7. straight pins (or curved safety pins) for basting the top, batting and backing together before quilting it----you can also thread baste the quilt together
8. paintbrushes of different sizes, toothpicks for mixing the paints, craft paint and textile medium to mix it with (or alternatively buy fabric paint but you may still need the textile medium to thin it so it won't be so rough on the fabric once painted) and a container for the paints---a plastic egg carton works great or several plastic plate. Also have a cup with water for washing the brushes.
9. iron and ironing board with plain cloth to cover the ironing board for protection
10. plastic sheeting or plain plastic bags that you cut apart so they lay flat and newspaper to protect your painting area
11. tape ---masking tape or plain packing tape works well
Instructions:
1. pick an area for painting (on a large table or tile floor---the floor worked best for me) and cover it first with newspaper and then with plastic to protect it---tape it down so it won't move all over the place
2. on top of the plastic (which should be larger than the top fabric you will be painting) lay the top fabric and tape it down---work out any looseness by taping it firmly but don't stretch the fabric
HINT: Iron the fabric first if it is wrinkled before taping it down.
3. Get all the paints ready and mixed. Set them where they can't be knocked over by little bodies and away from the fabric a bit.
4. Help your child decide what design he/she is going to do---you can even sketch it on with a pencil if that helps. Then paint it in!
HINT: Handprint designs are fun to do----the adult paints the hand of the child very quickly (the paint dries pretty quick on hands) and then helps the child press it onto the fabric kind of like a "hand stamp". Have the child wash their hands in between stamping their hands. You can make all kinds of designs with handprints:
---flowers--the handprints are the petals
---hearts -- the hands are positioned in a "V" shape with the fingers
together and thumbtips touching
---butterflies--hand prints are the wings
---use your imagination to create many other designs with hand prints
5. Once the fabric has been painted, untape it from the plastic and lay it flat on an old sheet or something fabric that you don't mind paint possibly getting on it. Let it dry thoroughly (this may take several days---as a rule I usually let it dry for 3 days to make sure it is really dry).
6. Once dry, cover your ironing board with a clean cloth and lay the painted fabric face down on the ironing board. With the iron set on the cotton setting iron the cloth on the backside to set the paint into the fabric.
7. Iron the backing fabric.
8. Lay the backing fabric down flat, then lay out the batting and top fabric ---center them and make sure they are smooth.
9. Now you are ready to baste your quilt in preparation for quilting it.
10. Now you are ready to quilt your quilt.
11. Now you are ready for the last step---binding the quilt.
fi aman Allah, Melissa
