I love our new obsession with adult coloring books, and have a few on my must-buy list – particularly Jamie Fingal’s new one! It struck me that this concept could be applied to fabric for some fun pet portraits, since I adore Tsukineko’s fabric ink pens.
Start with a photo you love…
Use a simple app (I use Camera 4 Line Art) to turn the photo into a line drawing:
…and print it on a sheet of ready-to-print fabric (I used Quilted Treasures). Don’t forget to use an ink-jet, not laser, printer for this step.
Time to gather the fabric markers and color the puppy! You can use your imagination or use the original photo for inspiration. When finished, instead of having lots of pieces of fabric to fuse, simply apply MistyFuse to the back of the entire pup, cut him out and fuse him to an appropriate background.
Layer with a small piece of batting and backing…gather a litter of threads (I used Magnifico and Twist by Superior) and sit down for some stitching at your sewing machine. No long-arm required here! If doing an animal portrait, simply stitch in the direction of the fur. I use an open-toe foot and keep the feed dogs up since my Bernina does not have a stitch regulator (dreams of the 570QE dance in my head ;).
It always helps to have a creative consultant in your studio for expert advice…
I’ve printed out a bunch of other line drawings on fabric and have my markers packed for my flight to Houston. A fun fast technique that might come in handy for holiday gifts!
neonkittyquilts 