Modern art is very popular in today’s culture. Learn how to bring that art into your next quilt by creating abstract quilt blocks. Heather Thomas shows you how quick and easy it can be to make several small blocks or even one larger piece of abstract fabric.
Fabric
For this video Heather uses white fabric which she then adds black lines and color to. While these are very popular colors in modern abstract art and some art quilts, any color of fabric can be used. Heather recommends stabilizing your fabric before working with it as it makes it easier to use.
Tools
Heather’s method of creating abstract quilt blocks doesn’t require any fancy tools. Aside from the fabric paint and markers, most of the tools you can find laying around your house. Heather uses two different thicknesses of cardboard, a paper plate and a paper towel. She demonstrates how the different thicknesses of cardboard, cut to different size squares, create much different looks than one another. She also explains how different looks can be created depending on which way the cardboard is cut.
Fabric Paint and Markers
There are many different ways to learn how to paint fabric. For the abstract quilt block created in this video, no paintbrush is needed. Instead Heather uses the cardboard as a way to stamp lines of paint onto the fabric. Once the paint is dry she then shows how to color in several sections using fabric markers. You want to ensure the fabric marker you use is permanent, especially if the abstract fabrics being created will be used in a project that may be washed. If you prefer, fabric paint and a brush can also be used to fill in sections created by the stamped lines. However, if you want a quick and easy way to create abstract quilt blocks, fabric markers dry much quicker.
