Thread Painting....

I learned something new today and Lola Jenkins,  http://lolasdesignerquilts.com/About_Us.html, helped me solve my puckering problem! I actually have never had a problem, however, I think it was because I did the thread painting before it was quilted whereas I generally do it through all 3 layers. I added a heavy weight stabilizer and that solved my problem! Here are the steps I have taken so far.... 

Step 1.... This is the original panel and I have colored it with Inktense Pencils by Derwent.

Step 2... I started to do the thread painting but it started to pucker even though I had stabilizer on the back. It wasn't heavy enough! 

I spoke with Lola Jenkins on FaceBook, quilter extraordinaire, & she said she uses heavy weight stabilizer. I guess Ricky Tim's Stable Stuff is not heavy enough for this particular project. I have always used Stable Stuff and it did well on my faces in my quilts!

Step 3... I added a layer of heavy weight stabilizer! And it worked! 

No more puckering at all! I am not finished but I wanted to share my progress! Here is a close-up of what I have done so far! It is intoxicatingly  fun! 

So my advice is... first, do a practice piece and see if the stabilizer is going to work on the amount of thread painting your doing. Second, use lots of thread and have fun with it! Third.... there are no mistakes only learning opportunities! Have fun!!!

Show and Tell

I decided it is time for some show and tell.... Some of these I still have and some are in private collections... 

My first art quilt... Fancy Dancer...

My Reservation inspired quilt... Go Past the Rocks & Turn at the Bush...  I used Rose Hughes techniques on this wall hanging. She liked it so much she put it in her book "Dream Landscapes - artful quilts with fast-piece applique" on page 82! http://www.rosehughes.com/Books.htm

I did some thread painting to make the bushes along the bottom in orange and blue and used dryer lint to embellish it. I also embellished the rocks using yarns and ribbons! I used some commercial fabric and my own hand dyed silk for the sunset!

This is a wall hanging in progress called Window Rock....

It will be heavily thread painted using Hollis Chatelaines machine techniques. I have lots of bold threads to use on this one! 

And my underwater scene quilt fused, painted, thread painted, pre-quilted and quilted wall hanging! Yet to be named! Maybe you can help.....

And you all have seen the latest quilt I am working on which I talked about in my previous posts! I also have several small wall hangings I am finishing up for class samples! Thanks for listening!