Thread: Did you know you don’t have to buy those fancy fabric printer sheets ?

I would like to try this technique on Jo-Ann's Legacy Studio Premium muslin. It has a high thread count which might be beneficial for photos. I would wash it first to remove the sizing.

I have tried this using different fabrics and with different dryng times and any other variable I could think of and the photos all faded some almost completely washed out. There was a post on this board and if I can find it I will put it in here. I tried her method and it works wonderful!! can't fnd the link I will try to copy and paste.
This was posted by gammieju
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fabric photo printing
I have been practicing making memory quilts and have experimented with all products and all methods and have come up with a foolproof method that makes the photos permanent. I use any kind of pretreated fabric for photo printing. After the photo is printed onto the fabric, dry it completely, then mix fabric glue with water to the consistency of heavy to medium heavy whipping cream, take a sponge brush and dab the weakened glue covering every inch. You do not want to make strokes because it will make the colors run. This will never wash out. The glue sets the ink and literally can not ever be washed. You do not want the glue to be too thick or heavy because the fabric will be too stiff. Practice on an old cloth until you find exactly the best consistency. I have used many different kinds of fabric glue and they all work.


I need to make a correction. When I wrote it can never be washed, I meant to say the photo can never be washed out.
After the photos have been treated with the weakened glue it can be washed as many times as needed and the photos will never fade. The glue actually makes the photos more vibrate. The fabric photos after the glue treatment will feel about like taffata fabric and can easily be quilted. When I first started making photo quilts I was disappointed when the photos bgan to fade after each washing no matter which brand of treated fabric I bought. I had made a baby quilt with the babys' photo in the center but as it was washed the photo began to fade. A baby quilt has to be washed very often so I began experimenting. I am making my gdil a wedding memory quilt and will post a picture of it as soon as I finish.


I posted a message a few weeks ago about how I have learned to copy photos for a quilt and how to make them permanent with the fabric glue and had intended to wait until I had completed this anniversary quilt for gs and gdil but haven't had much time to work on it so am posting pic of wip I use spiritual expressions for editing my pictures however it is no longer availabe but am told printmaster platium 18.1 works similar. They have the option to crop to shape which I love. The quilt really is square but because of how I hung and laid it, it looks so crooked. I don't know how clear these will look as I have never posted pictures here before, but I can tell you that they are very vivid and clear. I have made many memory quilts using the fabric glue and they can be washed forever and the color will not fade. I do not use patterns just think of how I want to design the quilt. Sometimes I use small photos, but on this quilt I took the photos into the editing software and added borders, cropped pic and on the baby pictures, I made a heart in the program then added the baby pictures in the top of the heart then put stars around gs baby pic and hearts around gdil. I love editing pic, and these are 8x 9 pic or there about. If anyone would like to know more about my method or would like to see more pictures I would be very happy to explain how I do them. I hope to get it finished in the next month. I only have shortarm quilting machine on gracie frame. Hope someday to get bigger one but am 68 years old. So will see. Judy



Have been away from computer yesterday and today. In answer to some of the questions, No it does not make it rubbery, it has the texture of taffeta. When I started experimenting with the glue, I tried making the solutions at different strengths. If you get the solution too strong it makes the fabric like rainresistant fabric. I use a weak solution, probably about 1 teaspoon to 2 cups of water (I have not measured so this may not be totally accurate, this is where experimenting comes in.) When I was testing it I put one printed photo in the washer 8 times and dried it in the dryer the same many times, I have even put bleach on them.. I have a juki tl98e with little gracie frame and had no problem quilting the fabric at all. I take my photos into spiritual expression by brode

Originally Posted by mzzzquilts

I haven't tried this method, but it sounds interesting, not necessarily for bean bags though, for memory quilts.

Has anybody done this? Would be interested in hearing what your results were.

http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/2010/03/custom-bean-bags.html

Thanks for the info. I just bought some of printer sheets. I haven't opened them yet. Now I can return them and save some money.

Thanks for the posting. I would like to experiment with some photos of flowers and the packages of photo printing paper seemed so expensive. I will have to give this a try.

WOW!! Thanks much for all the info that comes just in time. I was asked to make a graduation quilt using her son's basketball warm up suit shirt and four photos. Will definitely try the process, fabric glue and all. This thread is the greatest, even if it takes a lot of time to read it all.

Thanks so much! I have been wanting to do some printing on fabric and the price of the sheets was putting me off. Now all I have to do is source some freezer paper (we don't use this in Australia) I believe quilt shops sell it.

Too much fun! This would be great for a birthday party etc. Birthday guests printed on bag during the party as a party favor, then play bean bag toss with a board that has one hole cut in the top on a slight slant.