Anyone doing art quilting here?

**peanut** · 11-16-2008, 07:18 PM

I am starting out and a bit nervous. I've thought about it for years. Tried regular quilting with mixed success...I never could follow a pattern.

I've done some embroidery and other types of needlework, and some beadwork. Now I'm ready to put it all together. I've decided to branch into printing onto fabric with my computer. But I need a cheaper way to do it than $4 a sheet of prepared fabric! I think I'm going to have to buy some of the Bubble Jet stuff to make cotton more permeable to ink.

Anyway, I am wondering if anyone has done this kind of work and if you have any good resources - books, programs, websites, etc. - or any good tips for me. I'm very much feeling like a fish out of water here.

Jean

**peanut** · 11-18-2008, 05:42 PM

Well I decided to dive right in. I got on the computer and looked at some photos my niece had sent me of her trip to Europe. I imported them into Paint Shop Pro and played around with kaliediscoping them. Got some interesting results.

Printed one of swans out on fabric to try. Then bordered it with gray ultra-suede. I decided to make a stencil out of freezer paper and use paintstiks to create swam images on the side...hmm...this could be interesting...I have no idea if paintstiks will stick to ultrasuede.

I've been toying with couching down metallic embroidery braid on the ultrasuede as a quilting and decorative device. No luck with my sewing machine feet, so I went to the quilt store and they found the right foot for me...now to try it. I've also been trying metallic threads in general in my machine...hmmm...interesting results.

This is really fun folks! When I run out of ideas, I just go watch more "Quilting Arts" DVDs... wish I had more resources to pull on though...

Jean

**Jamauk** · 11-18-2008, 06:00 PM

Good Luck! Can you post some pictures of what you are working on? I've never even given art quilts a thought.....they seem way too imtimidating to me!!!

**knitnmom** · 11-19-2008, 09:58 PM

I'd never even heard of art quilt before! Sounds interesting though!

**peanut** · 11-20-2008, 11:09 AM

sigh...alas and alack, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get a photo of this thing onto here. It used to be as easy as copy and paste. Now that doesn't seem to work... Right now I need to recharge my digital camera battery to take a photo...sigh...

Jean

**pinecone** · 11-23-2008, 10:12 PM

I admire those with the patience and gift of color values to make art quilts. As for me, I am more the traditional piecer.

piney

**peanut** · 11-26-2008, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by Jamauk

Good Luck! Can you post some pictures of what you are working on? I've never even given art quilts a thought.....they seem way too imtimidating to me!!!

I think I finally figured out pictures on this thing. This is the piece as it stands currently. This is in progress, not finished. I am having some issues with it...

The gray around the edge is ultra-suede, which I've never sewn before. When I pressed it it developed a ridge where the seam was pressed to the side underneath. I am not happy with the look at all. A friend suggested sticking a card in between seam and surface fabric and steaming, rather than pressing.

I'd also like to do some embellishing of the design in the center, but I'm not sure whether to quilt it first or embellish it first. My gut instinct is to quilt, embellish, and then just put a back piece of fabric on to cover all the workings on the back of the piece.

Come to think of it, I'm not even sure how to quilt it. I thought machine at first, but this is a really small area...maybe the size of a sheet of regular paper. And if I wanted to go around the design, I would have to do pretty picky machine quilting. Add to that the fact this fabric is so tightly woven that any needle leaves holes in it when stitched.

Any ideas?

Jean