Further adventures with Neocolor II! The basic idea with these pieces is that I painted directly on a piece of muslin. First I ironed the muslin to a piece of freezer paper to make it easier to draw on. I made my design with Neocolor II crayons. Then I went over it with the textile medium/water solution.
For the hibiscus I let the fabric dry, heat set it with the iron, removed the freezer paper and then washed it under the faucet. I then ironed it again to dry the piece. The hand of this one is much softer than the butterfly piece. I layered it with two pieces of thin batting and quilted it. Then I did a pillowcase finish with a backing fabric and went around the whole thing with a topstitch. This has a nice heft and feel, but isn't as stiff as the Fast-2-Fuse cards. I think I like this better. I certainly like the edges better.
I couldn't resist making some little houses too. I painted it with the basic directions above, but with this one I was impatient to get it done and didn't want to wait for it to dry. After painting, I placed it between a couple of pieces of regular paper and ironed it with the freezer paper still attached. Because the paint was still wet, some of the color transferred to the paper when ironed, so it has a softer look, almost a bit antiqued. The hand of this one is also softer than the butterfly even though I didn't actually wash out the textile medium. I then layered it with two pieces of thin batting, quilted it, did a pillowcase finish with the backing and topstitched all around to close the opening. I just love this one!
This "Spice Drops" piece is another 12 x 12 for the theme "candy". This one was done as above with the painting done on just a piece of muslin attached to freezer paper. After drying I removed the freezer paper, washed it, ironed to dry and then went on as with any other quilt- layered with batting and backing and machine quilted it. This is my least favorite. The batting was rather thin for a whole cloth quilt and it just seems so flat- texturally and color-wise. I love the butterfly one so much that I think I will go for that technique over this one if I try it again. However, the postcards turned out great. It's such a fun way to make a little piece like that! The two postcards are going to the Wish Upon A Card fundraiser.
Here's "Watch Your Step" with the binding partially on. I thought it needed the bold binding to frame it rather than a facing.