This week I have been putting the finishing touches to my small quilt Iron, which is destined for Contemporary Quilt's new exhibition Elements, which will open at the Festival of Quilts in August. Usually when the stitching is finished the only thing left to do is attach the sleeve and a label, parcel the quilt up and send it off, but some quilts need a little more before they are finished. This was one of those.
It is made from different rusted fabrics, some with tea and some without, and a small amount of discharged 'black' fabric too. The quilting is primarily designed to enhance the wonderful rust marks, and support the idea of a man-made grid which was being eaten into by the rust as the iron and steel corroded. But the grid of rivets on the black printed fabric were not going to show up through quilting alone, so I had planned to use one of my and Hazel's favourite techniques - painting after the quilting.
For this I generally use 'whatever paint is the right colour and texture' (same philosophy as for thread!) - this time I have used Jacquard Lumière in pewter mixed with a little black artists acrylic to tone it down a bit, plus a few (very few) drops of water to help it flow. A small to medium-sized round brush with fairly firm synthetic bristles is ideal, and then all you have to do is take a deep breath and go for it! I tend to mix the paint as I go for a slightly random feel, and paint up to the stitched line, but not touching it. And you can see form the picture that it really does make a difference to the finished look of the piece. These paints would normally be ironed to set, but as the quilt is a wall hanging that will never be washed, I am happy to let them air-cure.
For this I generally use 'whatever paint is the right colour and texture' (same philosophy as for thread!) - this time I have used Jacquard Lumière in pewter mixed with a little black artists acrylic to tone it down a bit, plus a few (very few) drops of water to help it flow. A small to medium-sized round brush with fairly firm synthetic bristles is ideal, and then all you have to do is take a deep breath and go for it! I tend to mix the paint as I go for a slightly random feel, and paint up to the stitched line, but not touching it. And you can see form the picture that it really does make a difference to the finished look of the piece. These paints would normally be ironed to set, but as the quilt is a wall hanging that will never be washed, I am happy to let them air-cure.
I mentioned that Hazel also likes to paint on her quilts. Below is a sneak-peek at part of her Elements quilt - all about the essential elements for a good G&T (she's got her priorities right!). I don't know exactly what paint she used on the lettering, but I'm willing to bet that it was also Jacquard Lumière. They are great paints, in lovely metallic and iridescent (halo) colours, and a little goes a very long way. You can get them in what they call 'exciter' packs, with nine small pots fora very reasonable price so why not treat yourself and have a go too?
That's all for now - thanks for reading. If you are inspired to have a go at painting on your quilts do send us a picture ....
Terry
Terry
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