Fabric Painted Landscapes

Explore the possibilities of adding color to your work with a small painted landscape complete with a home, pond, tiny animals, and a beautifully landscaped yard! This class is an introduction to fabric painting which is a fast and easy method of expanding a composition’s color palette and making your work more interesting and eye-catching! Counted and surface embroidery stitches worked in over dyed cotton floss add to the color experience with accents and texture. The project is finished with the four-sided finished edge and mounted invisibly (without glue) on a 3 ½” X 2 ¼” paper maché box.

 This is a class for all levels of students and you do not need to know anything about color or painting to create a beautiful design!

 1/2 - 1 day class (intermediate)

The Color of Seasons

Explore the wonderful color changes of the seasons as we delve into the exciting possibilities of fabric painted backgrounds and landscapes! This class will introduce students to the use of fabric paints with surface embroidery while exploring the changes of seasonal color. The projects are four 2” rounds worked on Dupioni silk which can be finished as lapel pins, pendants, or pin keeps. Students will work with a selection of over dyed cotton floss to enhance the beautifully painted backgrounds. This is a great introduction to add color to your work, with four small projects which are easily finished!

 2 day class (intermediate)

Sailing Away! A Keepsake Box

Come and explore the exciting world of fabric painting on silk dupioni with padded and textured surface embroidery! Your ship will be in full sail on a beautiful costal waterway as we paint the water and shore and then layer all the fine details with hand dyed cotton threads. This class will introduce you to the many possibilities of textile paints which are pH neutral and leave the fabric soft and pliable.  The small project (2” round) is worked on white silk dupioni and is quickly finished; it tops a 3” diameter paper maché box which holds a special surprise inside! Finishing techniques will cover some unique ways to easily finish and mount needlework that are archivally safe, secure, and beautiful! No prior experience with color or painting is required to make a beautifully painted landscape.

Also available on 32 count Belfast linen.

A Knot Garden

This beautiful knot garden interpreted in an antique palette lies behind the stone walls; counted and surface embroidery are combined with hand dyed linen and fabric painting to add exquisite detail and emphasis. This class will focus on perfecting the double running stitch so that accurate, straight lines can be made when needed and that same stitch can be used to interpret curves and circles smoothly. Counted and surface embroidery add fine texture and color to the vintage palette flower sections. Small touches of fabric paint are used to mark emphasis in the design. These are easy techniques, which when done properly, add to a design to make it very special. Come and learn about vintage palettes and how color, patterning, and stitch selection are used to contribute to a design’s theme – A Knot Garden will be a special heirloom treasure!

1/2 -1 day class (Intermediate)

Trompe l’Oeil

Fabric Painting for Surface Embroidery

A wonderful and colorful world comes to life with the addition of a fabric painted background as we completely control shapes, color, and the appearance of texture and embroidery applications on silk dupioni! Our project, a beautiful crazy quilt inspired design, begins on a piece of white silk dupioni which lends itself to many wonderful color applications including painting, stamping, rubbings from woodcuts and textured surfaces, and surface embroidery. This is not a pieced quilt, but a trompe l’oeil painted background. The painted design will be exquisitely embellished with over dyed cotton floss and silk ribbon, metal filigrees, charms and a custom monogram; students may bring sentimental keepsakes to add to their design including snippets of lace or tatting, special buttons or charms or anything, which would personalize this heirloom. The completed design and lower band are mounted on a commercially available sewing box included in the kit. A companion needle keep accompanies the sewing box. No prior painting or color experience is required as we explore an amazingly fun technique learning about color and painting for embroidery!

Shape of box may vary depending upon availability.

Fun with Fabric Paints: A Gardener’s Mini-Box

A mini gardening themed box (approximately 2”- 4”), complete with a shovel or gardening fork adds the finishing touch to our special project! Inside the box, a special saying and design is displayed on linen which we will hand-paint in class! This is a fast and fun introductory class in fabric painting to take a background from white to a beautifully shaded backdrop that complements the painted box. No previous experience with color or paint is required to make a stunning design! Students may add a personalized saying, poem, or name with the 2 script alphabets included. 

Choice of rectangle, round, oval, or hexagon box as supplies last.

 2-3 hour class - all levels