Fun with fabric inks

The marbling process.

There is nothing like a live demonstration—bloopers and all—to liven up a quilt guild meeting. At the January guild meeting, the Choo Choo Quilters enjoyed a demonstration of several techniques using Tsukineko fabric inks to add color and pattern to fabric.

This surface design adventure began when three of our guild members, Cristy, Veronica and Vista, attended the AQS quilt show in Paducah last spring. Intrigued by the samples (and the sales pitch) in one of the booths at the vendor mall, they each purchased a starter kit of the fabric inks, an instruction booklet and sundry tools to introduce themselves to fabric ink possibilities. A day of experimentation produced several samples which were displayed at the guild meeting. The demonstration provided an overview of the techniques they tested.

First up, was how these water-based inks could be used to print marbled patterns on fabric. 

Ink was dropped onto a bed of shaving cream (left).
Swirling the inks in the cream created a marbling pattern (right).

The fabric is placed on top and pressed into the inks and shaving cream.
The marbled pattern is transferred to the fabric.

The next technique was silk screening with fabric inks. Watch the [unedited] demonstration here as it happened live at the meeting. 

OK, let's try this again with a darker color of ink…

With a little experimentation and some "play time," you can see that it's quite simple to do and there are myriad possibilities for adding designs, pattern and color to fabrics or other porous substrates using these fabric inks. Finally, here are three examples of how fabric inks were used with stencils.

Create an over-all texture or pattern with a stencil.

Layering images with multiple colors of ink.

Upcycle a knit top.

2014: A Year of Handwork

What does shaving cream and quilting have in common? Come to the January 20 guild meeting of the Choo Choo Quilters and find out.

At the January meeting, we'll be starting off "A Year of Handwork" with a program on Fabric Inks.

Fabric inks can add color and pattern to fabrics.

There are many possibilities for adding color to fabric, quilts, garments, accessories and fabric art pieces—fabric inks is one of them. A demonstration of several easy techniques on how to use fabric inks to add color, pattern and images to fabric will be given at the meeting. You might be surprised on how easy it is. Examples will be shown to stimulate your curiosity and spur your creativity.

Join us as we kick off a new year! Remember to bring something for Show and Tell.

Wrapping up a year of stripping

After kicking off our 21st year as a guild with a program on lasagna strip quilts, and our annual Cuddle Quilt workshop that featured 2.5" pre-cut strips, the Choo Choo Quilters wrapped up the year with a quick demonstration of yet another strippy possibility.

Beverly shows the block layout for her  Jelly Roll Jam quilt.

We also enjoyed a diverse Show and Tell from our talented and very prolific guild members.

Becky's 3-dimensional turkey wall hanging is perfect for the season. 

Kim showed this festive little holiday dress with an embroidered ribbon sash.

This is one of a series of art quilts that Delores has created. 

The blocks for this album quilt were a surprise gift to Joanna.
She hand quilted this quilt and the backing and batting are both wool.

Veronica shared a quilt that she free-motion quilted for a local quilt shop. 

Vista created tree ornaments by repurposing men's neckties.
A wonderful memento. 

The following photos from past Show and Tells illustrate the inspiring array of quilterly eye candy the Choo Choo Quilters share and enjoy at monthly guild meetings. From antique and vintage finds, treasured heirlooms and rescue quilts, to modern, contemporary and art quilts, the quilts and projects shared during Show and Tell showcase a variety of hand and machine techniques in styles from traditional to trendy—and everything in between!

This antique log cabin quilt top dates from 1903.

Left: Guild members examine the hand workmanship and variety of fabrics.
Right: the back of each of the log cabin blocks is dated.

A label that was sewn to the back, documents the quilt:
"Mary J. Stagner, 426 W. Gorham St. 1903"
"729 different pieces"

Another vintage "Trip Around the World" quilt.
Take note of the zig-zag border.

Dawn (left) shows her version of the quilted basket.
Dawn (right) rescued this colorful little quilt from a yard sale.

Juanita (left) shows us her quilted table runner.
This tree skirt was made by Ginny (right) for a niece.

This modern style quilt top was made by Janet (left) in a Denyse Schmidt workshop.
The blocks were free-form cut with a rotary cutter—but without a ruler!

Veronica used free-form strip piecing techniques to create this quilt.
It is free-motion quilted.

The Choo Choo Quilt Guild is a friendly, low-key guild that tosses traditional meeting protocol to the wind (sorry, Mr. Roberts and your book of Rules). Our membership is comprised of beginning quilters as well as those with more experience—all willing to contribute, share, support and assist each other. Member teams take turns welcoming visitors and presenting monthly meeting programs—so that no individual member is overwhelmed (or overburdened) with all the guild responsibilities (we like it that way!)—and everyone has an opportunity to share some aspect of the quiltmaking experience with the group. Visit our Blog Archive to see what we've be doing for the past 4 years and stop in at a future meeting for a visit. Until then...

Happy Holidays from the Choo Choo Quilters! 

See you in 2014.