Stamping on Fabric

I really like making my own mark on my own quilts and creating quilts that are unique to me. One of the best ways I know to do that is to paint or dye my own fabrics and I love stamping them. There are so many wonderful stamps out there. You can buy commercial stamps or you can carve your own. When we look at these two small quilts here, this little guy is made out of nothing but one stamped image. Then I've got a very old fashioned-looking end result because I did a lot of hand stitching on it. I can also get a very new-fangled stitch result by doing machine quilting. Here I've created a scene using one stamp over and over again. Basically, it looks like a little portion of a tree coming out of the edge of the quilt with birds having a little conversation with each other, on it. Then I bordered it with another wonderful stamp. So, let me show you have easy this can be. You're going to need some stamps. These first few, I carved myself, using a product called Speedy-Cut. It's made by Speedball and it's really easy to do and easy on the hands. Then, this stamp right here is a clear stamp that you put on a mounting block to do your printing with. So, you'll also need some fabric paint. I've got two different types here. One is called Neopaque. They're both by Jacquard. The Neopaque is just what it says. It's opaque and it gives you nice, bold color. Then the other is Lumiere and it's a metallic paint. You'll also need something to put the paint on the stamps with. I've got two different types of applicators here. A regular sponge brush, which I use for smaller stamps and then a roller for larger stamps. Now, I like to stamp on a slightly padded surface So, I'm just going to use a scrap of batting here. Then I'm going to protect my tabletop with some plastic and I'm going to tape it in place so it doesn't shift and move on me. You can tape down your fabric too, if you want, but I only do that if I'm doing a whole lot of printing on one piece. So, this is the fabric I'm going to print on. I'm just going to put it over the padded area and I'm going to pour some of my paint up on a paper plate. I'll use that as a palette. I almost always pour in a line if I'm going to be using a roller. It's easier to get the roller full of paint that way. So, I'm going to paint using this clear stamp and I really like clear stamps because I can see exactly where I'm going to print on the fabric. I'm going to fill my roller so that it's nicely saturated and then roll the stamp. I always try not to get the paint all over the background area of the printing block because it might transfer to the fabric. So, I'm simply going to set that down, exactly where I want it and just set it gently and then you're going to press on it with flat hands. So, just flat hands, and then lift up. And that's how easy it is. You can just make the most amazing, unique, and wonderful quilts by stamping on them. Give it a try.