Using crayons and markers to draw on fabric block....

I was reading in a tip in a magazine about having kids color on a fabric block and then quilt the squares together. Of course it was just a tip and they said they used crayons and that's it. I want to do the same thing with my GD's and finally make a quilt for myself instead of everyone else! So I am wondering....which is better...crayons or markers? Which washes out? Which "holds color" longer and doesn't smear or fade or wash out?

ANyone have any suggestions, thoughts, or tips on this? I have a GD coming today, she is 11 so her "coloring" days are nearly over, so I am going to have her do one of each, but at the same time, I can't experiment and wash them and then have her do them again...she lives to far away. I could mail a block I guess...but still...

Anyone got ideas?

Go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby and get crayons that are for fabric. They may even have them at Joann's. Regular crayons and markers won't work and sharpies, while permanent, tend to bleed out a little.

My grandmother used to do this with me when I was a kid (we won't tell how many decades ago that was). But, we used regular crayons and just covered the fabric with wax paper and ironed them really. The heat melted the crayons into the fabric and it worked great. I'm not sure if we washed them, but if you have crayons and some scrap fabric, it would be worth the time to test it out. I was past my coloring days also, but it was a lot of fun.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t178991.html. Check this one out very pretty. Use crayons for fabric and iron them to heat set

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t178991.html. Let me try that again

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Originally Posted by K. McEuen

Go to Michael's or Hobby Lobby and get crayons that are for fabric. They may even have them at Joann's. Regular crayons and markers won't work and sharpies, while permanent, tend to bleed out a little.

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Didn't know they made such a thing! I'll look into it! Thanks

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Originally Posted by tfrankum

My grandmother used to do this with me when I was a kid (we won't tell how many decades ago that was). But, we used regular crayons and just covered the fabric with wax paper and ironed them really. The heat melted the crayons into the fabric and it worked great. I'm not sure if we washed them, but if you have crayons and some scrap fabric, it would be worth the time to test it out. I was past my coloring days also, but it was a lot of fun.

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So you colored, pressed with wax paper and the color stayed?

I have seen the fabric crayons and they have fabric markers too. Check down the aisle with all of the fabric paints and dyes.

The regular Crayolas are designed to washout for the sanity of parents everywhere. I am not sure about the ones that are not specifically marked for washability and the heat setting bit. That might be a non-washable quilt.

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Originally Posted by toggpine

The regular Crayolas are designed to washout for the sanity of parents everywhere. I am not sure about the ones that are not specifically marked for washability and the heat setting bit. That might be a non-washable quilt.

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That was why I mentioned the fabric crayons. I'm thinking that the formula for regular crayons is a lot different now than when we were kids and that the whole heat setting thing might not work now. Besides, the fabric was always stiff and waxy after heat setting so it wouldn't have been a very soft quilt.

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Originally Posted by K. McEuen

That was why I mentioned the fabric crayons. I'm thinking that the formula for regular crayons is a lot different now than when we were kids and that the whole heat setting thing might not work now. Besides, the fabric was always stiff and waxy after heat setting so it wouldn't have been a very soft quilt.

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That could be true about how crayons are made now as opposed to then. I just don't live near a craft store and limited on money so I thought crayons...but at the same time, no sense making it if it is all going to wash out!

I did this a long time ago with my class I was student teaching in, but we drew on paper with fabric crayons, then ironed the pictures on. The only thing you have to watch is lettering comes out backwards. I had them go to the window and place their drawing on the glass, and they wrote their names in pencil on the back, then traced over it on the right side with crayon, the lettering would be reversed. When you iron it on, it is reversed again and is correctly written. We made a keepsake quilt for my supervising teacher, she loved it!

Coffeebreak,

Don't give up without trying. Why don't you take a scrap fabric and color on it, heat set it. Throw it in the wash and see what happens? You might be pleasantly surprised. Ya never know.

You could also have them draw/ color and then use their pictures to make a pattern for applique. That could be kind of tough for stick figures though.

I have a scrap of cotton and I'll go color on it and let you know how that goes as I have some laundry to do today.

OK, I have used 100% cotton that was pre-washed.
The crayons are Crayola and are NOT specifically marked as washable. I sampled 23 of the box of 24.
I heat set it on the cotton setting. I placed the fabric so the crayon markings were face down on white copier paper and heat set it from the back. It did leave some residue on the white paper. I thought about using news paper, but was afraid the higher heat might cause ink transfer. I would suggest plain paper for the heat setting.
It will be washed with powdered detergent on warm, no fabric softener, and dried on medium.

In about an hour and 15 minutes I'll have the final results of our crayon test.

Mad Scientist Cathy

Why am I picturing all of Cathy's whites coming out of the dryer with rainbows on them?

Wow! Cathy, now that is dedication and devotion! I sure hope that your good will gesture is not with dying of your own wash load! You go, girl! Wow! I am impressed !

Ummm. My clothes all look fine.

The washer ate the fabric piece. The scrap of cotton was a bit larger than a dollar bill. Seeing as those and the dryer sheets have gone through the washer before I didn't think too much of it. I dropped it on top of a load of kindergarten clothes. I just transferred the clothes from the washer to the dryer and the sample is missing. I went through the load three times. I shook out all of the clothes, looked inside socks, checked to see if it got hung up someplace in the washer, and nuthin'. I'll see if it shows up in the next load through the washer. We have one of those HE top-loading washers. It may have slipped in some place around the agitator thing in the bottom. Funny how it wouldn't eat a dollar bill or a dryer sheet that fell in there, but would scarf up the quilting cotton....
I'll try again with a bigger piece.
Sorry for the delay!

Cath

In the wash now & safety pinned to a wash rag!

I did like Karen did when I was little. Recently found seven brand new packages of fabric crayons at the thrift store and the whole bunch was only $2. Need to try those out soon. I'd love to have some of the girls drawings on a quilt. May plan to do that for Mom and Dad for their anniversary which is coming up mid-year.

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Originally Posted by toggpine

Ummm. My clothes all look fine.

The washer ate the fabric piece. The scrap of cotton was a bit larger than a dollar bill. Seeing as those and the dryer sheets have gone through the washer before I didn't think too much of it. I dropped it on top of a load of kindergarten clothes. I just transferred the clothes from the washer to the dryer and the sample is missing. I went through the load three times. I shook out all of the clothes, looked inside socks, checked to see if it got hung up someplace in the washer, and nuthin'. I'll see if it shows up in the next load through the washer. We have one of those HE top-loading washers. It may have slipped in some place around the agitator thing in the bottom. Funny how it wouldn't eat a dollar bill or a dryer sheet that fell in there, but would scarf up the quilting cotton....
I'll try again with a bigger piece.
Sorry for the delay!

Cath

In the wash now & safety pinned to a wash rag!

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The first one probably went where the one white sock always goes from the dryer!!! I did have my GD color on one today and will test it tomorrow. Hope yours goes okay Cath!

I did this last year using the old fashioned crayons (crayola box of 64 colors from an office supply store) just colored on white 100% cotton fabric & heat set it. It worked just fine. But when I tried it again on another fabric, most of the color ironed right out. (I used plain old printer paper & an old iron) The sizing has to be washed out first, & testing is a really good idea.

here is some great info on crayon quilts:

http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...t-t179164.html
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t178991.html


http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...s-t133695.html

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t145643.html

just get a white sheet at the thrift store for $2.00 or so, iron freezer paper on the back of the square you cut out for practice, and put the
material over a coloring book picture or quilt pattern, or what ever, and trace the edges witha water color pencil. Then color away. That's it. When you finish coloring, heat set it.
You're done. Your block is now finished

OK! I found the first test piece! A lime green fleece pullover had eaten it.

The colors stayed on both pieces of fabric. The first was pre-washed and the other not.

You can check out the process from start to finish here: http://toggpine.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/crayon-play/

Thanks folks for giving me something to blog about today. You all are inspiring at so many levels! Love the eagle block!

Happy coloring & quilting!
Cathy

Wow! That snowman quilt is darling! I'm impressed with the variation of depth in the colors. It's so cool to know that was all done with Crayola crayons. I don't know about you but coloring was one of my absolute favorite activities as a kid. I would bet that'd be the case for most of us quilters.
Jingleme- thanks for posting all the links.

The next task is finding the images. The snowmen pictures look like they're a set. Not only is the coloring exceptional on the snowmen quilt but it works so well because the images are obviously done by the same artist. Do you think she got her images from a coloring book? That's the only place I could think of where we might find images that are similar to one another. Any ideas?

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Originally Posted by rebeccas-sewing

I don't know about you but coloring was one of my absolute favorite activities as a kid.

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When I had my knees replaced I found that coloring was one of the things that got me through the day. I picked up some of those 5x7 multipage coloring books for the 'kids' but found myself hogging them. I have several that I filled - one page at a time, flip and do the next, flip . . . love to color. Love anything having to do with color!! I think I may have been a champion colorer in my younger days, too!!

Why not have them draw/color a picture on regular size copy paper for now. Then when you can get to a Hobby Lobby, Michael's or Joann's buy some printable fabric "paper" and then copy the pictures onto the printable fabric and use those in a quilt. That way you won't have to worry about setting the crayons. I have never used the printable fabric, only seen it used on quilting shows on tv.

Good luck and have fun.

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Originally Posted by rebeccas-sewing

The next task is finding the images. The snowmen pictures look like they're a set. Not only is the coloring exceptional on the snowmen quilt but it works so well because the images are obviously done by the same artist. Do you think she got her images from a coloring book? That's the only place I could think of where we might find images that are similar to one another. Any ideas?

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"The individual design are by Jan Way who does design for painting."

She had an artist draw them for her.

I love to collect coloring books.
This is the page I was looking for yesterday... a cute idea using tracings from a coloring book & coloring them with crayons
or fabric markers or whatever you want

http://www.quiltingboard.com/tutoria...t133695-8.html