Quilted Canvas
This summer I e-mailed Quilting Arts Magazine with an idea for an article. I got an e-mail back asking for more information and more pictures. Boy was I excited! They ended up not accepting it but as they say in the Oscars, "I was just proud to be nominated".
I think it is a fairly easy process, just a little finagling with your machine and it works just great.
Supplies: pre-stretched canvas 8x8 or 8x10, fabric or acrylic paint, brushes, decorative fabric, muslin or light in color scrap fabric, batting, scissors, thread, sewing machine
- Place your decorative fabric on top of your batting which is on top of your scrap or light colored fabric. Sew around the areas you want to use as your decorative features.
- Cut out the pieces you sewed around
- Paint/decorate the plain canvas to desired colors and theme
- Glue stick fabric pieces to the canvas, this is just a temporary hold before we stitch them down. Keep in mind you will not be able to sew about and 1/2 inch from the edge of the wood frame. So your design should be towards the center the the canvas.
- Using a light box, window or light fixture, flip over the canvas and draw the outline of your shapes on the back of the canvas. .
- Take off the presser foot to your machine.
- Place canvas pencil side up/canvas top down on the bed of your machine.
- While canvas is resting on the bottom of the machine attach the darning/quilting foot. For most machines the wood stretcher of the canvas is to thick to get under the presser foot with out removing it first.
- Lower feed dogs.
- Quilt 1/4 inch along the inside of the line you drew. Repeat until desired effect with multiple stitch passes increasing slightly outward toward originally drawn line.
- You will have to move the canvas in order to cover the lines.
- When finished you will have some over hang where you weren't able to sew the fabric down. You can either sew it over again or cut off the excess. (that is what I'm pointing to)
- I went back in after quilting to add some more dimension with more paint and oil pastels
The effect is cool, it's very dimensional! I had a good time!
