koko

I am just starting my first art quilt and want to do some thread painting on it but have a few questions...Do you have to stabilize each section and hoop it to thread paint it as I have seen Nancy Prince do or can I just fuse the pieces in place and then thread paint? Do I thread paint a tree for example and then fuse it or fuse it first and then thread paint it? And do I need a special needle since it looks like I am going to have multiple layers of fabric in some places - is there any way to reduce this? Any other pointers would be appreciated.

bluteddi

I"m interested in this as well.... I"ll be following this thread

gal288

I have made many thread painted wallhangings.

I fuse first, then stabilize with a light washaway embroidery stabilizer. I like Floriani on a roll that you can iron on. It comes in 12" wide width, I cut it the length I want, press it on, and when finished with painting, I spritz it with water and it comes off.

I use a good embroidery needle,& change it if the thread begins to break or shread.

I have not had any trouble with the fabric being too thick, the thread will punch it down, more or less.

Hope this helps. I'm posting a photo of a dog I'm making for my son. Not done yet, but you get the idea.

Polliwog

I have used Ellen Ann Eddy's method and found it very easy - no fusible web needed. Works well if you plan to completely cover the motif with thread. Embroider your design element (i.e., a bird or flower or animal) on muslin or plain fabric using whatever stabilizer works best with your machine. The tear-away commercial products work well, but I have used freezer paper too. Cut the applique (thread painting) close around the edges. Use a glue stick to position it on your main design area. Use a decorative or satin stitch to sew it to the background fabric. You can add stitching to the body of the applique to flatten it out or to stabilize it or to add additional elements to the design.

hobbykat1955

I have done it both way...separate and then stitch on to main fabric...I've also appliqued first and then thread painted over it...When I did it separate our teach had us hoop washaway clear stablizer draw the outline onto it and then thread paint the item...Then we just stitch it onto main fabric...

spinnergs

If you intend to do intense thread painting, I would recommend a hoop and stablizer on seperate fabric. Heavy thread painting will draw up the fabric alot. (Ask me how I know)

DogHouseMom

Two good books on thread work - I'm still reading through both of them as I intend on doing some thread painting on a landscape quilt that I'm still piecing.

"Thread Work Unraveled" by Sarah Ann Smith (AQS Publishing)
"Thread Painting Made Easy" by Terry White

Thread Painting is geared more toward what I would call free motion machine embroidery as some of his designs are completely thread painted. Thread Work covers pretty much everything from basic quilting to light thread painting.

I'm not sure how I'm going to handle the technique of thread painting yet for my quilt. I figured after I finished both books and as I got closer to actually quilting the darn thing ... I'll mimic some of my appliqued areas on 12" sqares of batting and practice to see how much "pull" the thred work does, if and how I need to stablize, etc. I'm working with pretty heavy stuff ... in some area's lots of layers of applique already sewed down with monofilament onto muslin. It's already pretty darn stable so I might not need anything (and both books do mention that depending on the layers your working with and the degree of threadwork - you may not need a stabelizer at all - the work itself is already stabelized).

Something to consider (and there was another thread on this question the other day) is to use a hoop. There are some that are interlocking hoops that clasp around the fabric (like an embroider hoop - but flatter so you can get it under the machine), and Sharon Schambers sells a hoop that just sits on top of the fabric and I watched her demo it in Paducah. She sells these hoops on her website.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!!