I’m not patient

I always shake my head when people see a quilt I’ve made and remark, “You must have a lot of patience.” No, if I have a choice, I’m not patient. But, life often requires patience. Monday was swallowed up with more doctor appointments for DH, and an errand with DD#1. Tuesday was snatched away with grocery shopping and taking my mom for her errands. So, today I finally had the opportunity to work on this quilt that I’ve had in mind for several weeks. But, naturally, I’m on a deadline, so I need quick and easy. See, I’m not patient!

I want to use a fabric that is a cotton and silk blend. It has a satin weave, so it is very smooth and somewhat shiny. I started by testing out several colors from two brands of markers. I didn’t stabilize my fabric before I started, so the writing is messy, but I was more interested in how much they bled and if they faded or spread when washed. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more of a difference in the gray tones. After my quick test, I decided to use the Faber Castell markers for this project. They’re not intended for fabric, but they did work beautifully.

I stapled my paper guide to an old portable, rectangular ironing board, and then I stretched and pinned the cotton/silk fabric over that. It was rather enjoyable drawing directly on the fabric with the markers. I had fun drawing thick and thin lines with the brush maker, and it was a bonus that I had at least one gray marker that I could use that was significantly different than black.

Once I had the basic lines in place, I started carefully painting the skin tones with Tsukineko All-Purpose Inks. I had some problems with splotchiness that I might try to correct tomorrow. Because I had the fabric pinned in place, I also couldn’t complete the entire image yet. That will have to come tomorrow, too.

After the skin tones were dry, I started working on the clothing. All this took the afternoon and evening. I hope to be back to work tomorrow. I don’t want to practice patience and have to wait again!