Crayon colored quilt squares
 

I have been so interested in making a 50 state quilt. I have white Kona purchased and cut into 8 inch squares. The finished squares are going to be 6.5 inches. I cut them larger because, well, I’m not a very accurate cutter and will trim to size when done. Each Square is the state name and state flower. After tracing two squares I have realized that doing this as hand embroidery is going to be way more than I really want to attempt at this time. However, I took one of the squares and tinted it with crayons. It actually looks kind of good….for the first attempt…I will spend more time/effort on finalhttps://i.imgur.com/iU4RnRH.jpg…I am concerned about doing the Crayon tinting without washing the fabric first. I know others have made quilts using crayons. Has anyone had any problems with the color washing out because of using new unwashed fabric?

I took a class with Terrie Kygar. Her book Creative Quilts from Your Crayon Box is about a wonderful technique using crayons. I made a few pieces in class, bought the book, bought a bunch of crayons, enjoyed the process - and haven't done anything more. Sorry, I don't remember the details, but I do recommend the book.

I believe my friend in Arizona is at quilt camp this week -- but she also took the coloring class. She and several of her group plus friends and class makers did a full sampler project. I'm not sure what the teacher recommends but I'm sure they all did it that way. I'll have to put in a call and probably wait a few days for a reply.

I am sometimes doing techniques and will usually do a few tests for things like color fastness. I'd take a test block, put it in a lingerie bag (or inside a pillow case you don't care about), and wash it with your regular laundry (include a color catcher) and see how the test block comes out. Check for size/shrinkage/ravelling as well as color fastness.

Sometimes I go on to do horrible things to my tests, like boil them, either on top of the stove or in the microwave. Generally I feel pretty secure that the technique or product is safe to use if it passes 1-2 tests.

My sister made a Sunbonnet Sue quilt using crayons, back around 1980, and it has been washed several times, and is still holding the color very well. She colored on paper, then ironed the crayon onto the fabric. She was able to transfer 2 blocks from each colored page.

I did take a class where we colored directly onto the fabric. The teacher had us color light layers, then iron with a piece of paper on top, between each layer. I really like how I was able to get some nice detail with this method.

If you do a search for "crayon" on the QB I'll bet you will find a bunch of info.

I have done this but for the life of me can't remember if I washed the fabric first.

Watson

Meg from Crabapple Hill has a tutorial on her website on coloring with crayons and another with colored pencils. Check it out.... she has some lovely designs. I have used crayons in a few blocks and always set the color with an iron and paper towel in between.

I've done it and know I washed the fabric first, but that is what I do with all fabric.

I've done some outline embroidery with my machine in black, and then used my colored fabric markers to color them in. The pattern is "color me with stitches" by Anita Goodesign

I’ve made quite a few crayon quilts. Always heat set your colored blocks- I use a paper towel over the design. They hold up well. The nice thing about them is after some time if they start to fade it’s easy to refresh them with new crayons.

glad to read this ckcowl because I am finishing a quilt right now where I tried a crayon design on the borders, just to try the technic... I washed my fabric before, set the colored borders as you say and I washed them (a lot) before attaching the borders to the quilt. Now I keep my fingers crossed hoping that it will endure many washes to come .

I have no experience with crayon quilts I just want to say the block you shared is beautiful and well colored. I love it.