I want to make a quilt with the help of my kids. I want to use 10 or 12 inch squares of white fabric to create coloring book like blocks. I want my daughter to draw pictures that her and her brother can color. So...what would I use to do the drawing? It needs to be permanent, non-fading, non-bleeding, etc...I was thinking Sharpie or paint pen maybe. I'm not sure. I want a nice clean line. I already have great fabric crayons...just need the outline part figured out. Any ideas?

What about using the pigma marking pens by Micron? They come in different widths of marks, and they are waterproof. I would heat seal them with an iron.

Where could I find that? Hobby Lobby? We don't have a JoAnn's...

I did a project like this with the kindergarten class that I volunteer for. I just had them color on paper with fabric color crayons and than I ironed that onto 100% cotton.

If you want your daughter to draw pictures that younger ones can color I would go with the fabric pens that most craft and sewing store carry. Just make sure that you tape the fabric down securely on a flat hard surface. :-D

Sharpies might be Ok but practice first.

I gotr mine at Joann's....maybe Michael's, Hobby Lobby....

You can get the Micron Pigma pens at Hobby Lobby. I know I had to get mine in the drawing art supplies section. They come in all different colors and all different sizes. They are fairly cheap also.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I'm going to try the Micron pen. I will of course do a practice block. Don't need any surprises. LOL

I think this will be a wonderful quilt that the kids will appreciate long after they are grown. Great idea.

Ironing freezer paper on the back will keep the fabric positioned for both markers and crayons.

If you iron onto the back of the fabric square, a piece of freezer paper, it will stabilize it enough for them to do their art work. Then just peel it off.

moonpi - you were 30 seconds before me,lol

When the children color the quilts you can use regular coloring crayons and not have to buy the fabric ones. I did this type of project with school children. After coloring the fabric and ironing it (use old paper bags to protect your iron and board) the children can add more color if it is not dark enough. Then reiron.

These are fun projects to do. I am working on a pillow now where I outlined embroidered the design and colored the inside parts.

While they freezer paper is on the fabric, you can draw out the outlines, then use some heavy weight black thread, shorten the stitch length and sew around the black outlines. This helps keep the kids within the lines, and the black thread also will help keep the paint/ink from bleeding over if they hold it too long close to the edges :wink: the heavy black cotton thread acts like a wick, soaking up the extra.
Shortening the stitch length helps to remove the freezer paper once you are done with the blocks.

That's a cool idea to stitch over the outline. Why didn't I think of that??? LOL

Brilliant!!!

i was going to suggest that too..it makes it easier to draw/color on the fabric.

Another place to find the pigma pens is at Dick Blick (an art supply store.

The pigma pens work very well. Sometimes I can use a Sharpie with a thin point like a pen but be sure to it out first on your white fabric because Sharpies tend to bled onto the fabric before you can heat set it.

One more thing to think about, make sure that the pictures are drawn well within the fabric square so that there is a good seam allowance, I'd say at least 1 inch all around the square. You don't want to sew some of the picture into the seam allowance.

Our Girl Scout troop decorated pillowcases with Crayola crayons, but any wax-based crayons will work. You can also use a fine to medium grit sandpaper sheet to keep the fabric from shifting if you don't have freezer paper. Just let them color to their hearts' content. Remember, the more crayon, the deeper the color, so make sure they press the crayon firmly on the fabric. Place several layers of newspaper covered with a white papertowel on your ironing board and place the fabric crayon side down on the paper. We actually turned the pillowcases inside out and put the newspaper inside them. Place another papertowel on the wrong side of your fabric (to protect your iron) and press with a hot DRY iron. This will melt the wax and set the color.

Why don't you just let them draw pictures with whatever they usually use, then scan them in and print them on the fabric sheets that go thru the printer?

Years ago there was a product called Liquid Embroidery that was great. It is much better than crayons.
I finally found it thru Herrschners catalog, its the only place that still carries it. They are tubes with ball point pens on the end. They are now called Ball Point Paint and they come in over 30 colors.

If you want to outline the pictures you can get a fabric marker meant to label clothes for camp, school etc. They are defeniately permanent. Some stores sell then in the laundry section.

The Pigma pens are sold at Office Depot and Office Max also.
Not sure about Staples.

be careful if using Sharpies they tend to bleed into the fabric

great idea.

My experience with Sharpies is that they tend to "migrate" into the fabric a little bit, so the edge of the line is not always crisp and clean.

thanks for the idea for a throw for grandpa's birthday gift - grandkids hand prints, names, all kinds of ideas. Add a photo with grandpa here and there. I'm ready to start as soon as I get the pigma pen for the outline.