Stencil-work on the Red Spice & Curry Quilt Top

I finally started doing the stencil-work on the Red Spice and Curry Quilt Top that needed an extra layer of something to tie it all together.

I'm using a stencil from The Stencil Lab, with Paint Sticks.

My method : I rub out some Paint Stick Color on a piece of freezer paper (The shiny side).  This is also known as palette paper.   Then I can spread it out and pick it up on the stencil brush, then add the color to the fabric.  IT would go on way too thick if I tried to "color" with the stick itself directly onto the fabric.

Although I was introduced to Paint Sticks about 10 years ago, when my Art Quilt Group was still meeting.  It also came up at The Sewing Expo at the local Tech School.  I think I was reminded of it in the Pepper Corey Scrap Quilting class.

Helpful Tip : I picked up a flannel-backed vinyl table cloth at Voldemart for less than $4.  I laid it on our dining room table with the soft fuzzy side up.  This served 1) to stabilize the quilt top and 2) protected the table beneath.  The Paint Sticks didn't seem to "bleed through" the fabric.

It's slow work.  I got the first tracing done in about 90 minutes.  That's the one in the middle.  I used the color Alizarin Red [top of post].   The 2nd one seemed to go a little faster -- I used a mixture of Burnt Sienna and Asphaltum, with copper highlights.

At first, I was thinking of just doing a quarter of the stencil in each corner as an anchor.  But the quilt top is bigger than I planned on.  Turns out 1 entire repeat of the complete stencil will fit in each corner.   I think I will do 3 more in the corners, and then fill in with fabric pain on stamps or other mark-makers.

As I worked, I realized I coulda/shoulda used different colors in different parts of the stencil.   I had a smallish orange block left over from Mande's quilt on which I tested the first colors (the oranges corresponded to the warm colors in this quilt).  This also let me try the stencil work/technique, get used to the brushes, etc.   I guess I can still add highlights to what's already done.  But then, I thought -- I want the stenciling to blend into the whole, not necessarily take over ...

The Paint Stick color does get lost in some of the darker patchwork.  Maybe I can go in with a little gold (or something) to highlight the edges? I'll have to think of something ...  My husband and friend Lynda suggested white when I was testing colors in PSE.  And I thought no way ...  but that is one color that would be visible in every block.  It just seems such a stark contrast as to NOT fit into the whole.  Maybe if that what was underneath and off-set a bit?

I know they say work in a ventilated area with Paint Sticks ...  but it really did not smell too bad.  I think I could take this project along to Quilt Camp in a few weeks.  I'll have a nice big rectangular table to work on there.  It's really the Do-Your-Own-Thang Retreat, so half the people are scrap-bookers there anyway.  No one will even batt an eye if I start doing surface design work on a quilt top.

Once those larger stencils are done, I may go back in with block prints and fabric pain to fill in some of the other areas.  I think that will go a lot faster than the slow work with the paint sticks.  For one thing, I can use a larger brush to fill in the stencil holes.  Or even make it more like a screen print, where you scrape the paint across the stencil holes. 

The wheels are turning in my brain ...  The Paint Stick stencil tracings need a new layer to help them stand out -- akin to a glaze with a kind of cracked ice texture over the top that lets the paint stick through.  I'll have to figure out what will stick to the Paint Stick after it's dried and set.  Does it have to be another Paint Stick product? or can I just use fabric paints? Or even acrylics?  Sponges and texture tools.  This could be fun!

Everything is a work in progress!  If this were some really special work-of-art quilt, I probably would have done more experimentation on other fabric.  But it's not, so I can afford to experiment.  By the last stencil, I'll have it all worked out!