I am so excited. I will be leaving Sunday for a week-long Pat Pauly workshop at QSDS (Quilt & Surface Design Symposium) in Columbus, Ohio. If you don’t know about Pat, she is a wonderful artist who makes contemporary quilts with her printed and painted fabrics. The class I’ll be taking is called “Glorious Prints.”
But before I go, I wanted to paint a new apron to take with me. Here is the finished apron.
The idea for this apron and the tutorial are not mine. One of my favorite artists/blogger LuAnn Kessi shared this technique on her blog recently. If you’ve never read her blog, check it out. Lots of great inspiration. She also is in a group of artists who get together monthly to teach local cancer survivors art. What a wonderful gift for her community. Check out this post about her aprons.
Here are the steps. Start by painting the apron with light colors. I’m using Jacquard Fabric Paints. I added white textile paint to the colors to make pastels.
For the second layer use a medium color and stamp with found objects. I used a cardboard tube, a potato masher, Tupperware lid, and a credit card. Of course, you can stamp with anything on this or any of the layers. The point is to use different marks on each layer.
For the next layer use darker colors with foam stamps. I’m using my homemade foam stamps. I also am using the same colors with no added white.
Now add black and white paint only. For this layer I used my mandala stencils I made awhile back and another stencil. I also added the potato masher again since I love the spiral mark it makes.
The last step is to add detail with black and white paint pens. I ended up also using a gold paint pen on the white mandalas. Neither my black nor my white pens had much paint left, so the detail doesn’t show up in the picture or on the apron!
Here are a couple close up pictures. I think I need to buy some new paint pens!
I look forward to wearing it at the workshop. Thank you LuAnn for this and all of your inspiration. I’ve soda ash soaked and labeled 15 yards of fabric for this fun week. Now to gather the rest of my stuff for the trip.
I hope you can carve out some time this week to do something creative. And if you paint an apron or even a piece of canvas, I’d love to see it. Thanks for dropping by.
I’m linking this post to Off The Wall Fridays. Check out all of the inspiration there.
Lynda,
I also enjoy LuAnn Kessi’s blog posts. And all the activities that her P2P group do are so inspiring. Enjoy your workshop/retreat. We’ll all be watching for an update as to what you did while there.
I think the apron painting would be a perfect grandparent-grandchild project. Thanks for the step outs with pictures.
Luann Fischer
Luann, That would be a great project for grandparent and grandchild. Yes, her P2P group is amazing. I tried to start one here with just two of us, but had trouble with the agency. I’d still love to do that with some artsy friends. Thanks for coming by and commenting.
Lovely!
Your apron is so cheerful! What kind of paint pens do you use — I would like to get some white ones that show up well on painted fabric. Have fun at your workshop.
Hey Lynda, How FUN you made a messy painted apron! Woo Hoo! I met up with Pat Pauly last October and spent the day in a class designing abstract art quilts. She is wonderful and so much FUN. You will learn lots from her. Happy and safe travels to you.
LuAnn Kessi in Oregon
https://luannkessi.blogspot.com/
LuAnn H Kessi recently posted..Messy Painted Aprons…
LuAnn, It was so much fun and I changed my mind and ended up making another one to take to the workshop that I like even better!! Thanks for the inspiration. Yes, I am so excited about spending a week with her!!
Sherrie, I have yet to find any white ones that I’m happy with. I am using DecoFabric pens.
Lea, Thanks!
The apron is just fabulous! And too pretty to wear!
Michelle, Thank you!
Do you have to treat it before or afterwards to keep the color?
Also, bow do you launder it?
How long will it stay vivid and bright.
Stormy, No I didn’t treat my fabric before or after or launder it. It’s still bright after all these years. However, it’s pretty rigid. I ended up not taking it to the workshop because of that and the post following this one shows the apron I ended up taking.