Friday, March 29, 2019

Watercolor Fabric Painting

On The Quilt Show,  I saw something that intrigued me. MJ Kinman demostrated how she paints fabrics to get exactly the colors she wants for her signature quilts.  She was using Jacquard Dye-Na-Flow paints.  I thought that I had a pack of the smallest bottles of it. So, searching through my supplies I found the fabric paints I remembered.  But, they were not Dye-Na-Flow paints, they were Jacquard Traditional Textile paints.  Hmmm.... I have never let something as silly as not having the right supplies stop me. 

Kinman had stretched her fabric on artist stretcher bars.  She was working with a big piece of fabric.  Wait - why not use an embroidery hoop since I will be working rather small anyway? 

Following her basic steps I started painting my hooped fabric - a simple off-white cotton. I noticed that these paints are not quite as intense as the Dye-Na-Flow she was using.  But I carried on and here it is wet.
While wet it still had a nice intensity.  I just left it sitting on my worktable to dry and went about my day. 

The next day I saw that it was dry.  Having read the instructions (yes, I really do read instructions!) I knew that it needed to be heat set for permanency.  I chose the hot iron method and ironed it probably more than necessary. 

Here is the dried and heat set fabric.
Watercolor effect on painted fabric.
While I was expecting a richer more saturated color,  I really love this. Oddly, I never got such a great watercolor effect when I was painting with watercolors. 

You may notice that I casually wiped my brush on the edges as I was painting.  I was thinking "this is just an experiment."  Now I wish I had not done that.  I also really love the way using the embroidery hoop gave a nice edge to what is a very nice circle shape.
Now I am thinking that I could use different size hoops and make a variety of circles to sew into a quilt.  I have multiple sizes of hoops for some reason.
But now I may have to invest in some Dye-Na-Flow paints for this.

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11 comments:

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

What a lovely experiment!! The watercolor effect and the embroidery hoop combined for a really pretty effect. Not having the proper supplies has never stopped me either - I think it makes us more resourceful - LOL - ;))

Barbara said...

I think you are really on to something here, Gene! I love the look of the paint absorbed by the fabric, and I’m glad you wiped your brush where you did. Picturing this piece w/o those brush strokes leaves me wanting. Nice experiment, indeed, and a whole quilt of them would be great!

Frog Quilter said...

The color is beautiful and would work great as part of a quilt.

Dot Moore said...

Gene, I also saw that program and loved her technique. Quilting hoop is a great idea for us with limited space. Looking forward to ordering my paints.

Debbie said...

Jump in and play, you have that spirit. Very nice results too. This turned out so beautiful. Would be perfect for some thread painting landscape.

Marlene said...

I just watched a video by Anita Luvera Mayer yesterday where she was using Dye-Na-Flow fabric paints in the same manner. Like you I want to try it and checked my supplies. I have fabric paint but it is not Dye-Na-Flow brand. It's Setacolor Opaque by Pebeo. Hmmm -- worth an experiment anyway.

Pam said...

I bet it would be lovely when quilted, brush strokes and all.

Kathleen said...

Wonderful use of creative energy and improvising with what you had. I am sure you can work around the "wipes" on the corners (maybe inset the background or applique the circle and go from there....when quilted only a few would know...

Quilting Tangent said...

Looks like a crystal ball. I can see a lot of future projects with painted fabric. Have fun!

Vicki W said...

Oh I think you are on to a fun new series!

Kathleen said...

So pretty!! I can see you getting more into fabric painting in the future, and of course making beautiful pieces with it!
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