Dye-Painted Poppy Wall Quilt

Step 2:

Drawing The Poppy:

Using your inspirational picture as a guide, draw the basic outline of the poppy on the top piece of fabric. Don’t worry about details.

Step 3:

Pin-baste the three layers together, placing pins in the center of each petal, as shown.

Using white cotton thread, machine stitch the layers together following your drawn lines. Don’t worry too much about accuracy. If you are a machine quilter, you may want to add extra stitching for a more dimensional effect.

Step 4:

Dye-Painting the Poppy:

Lay the stitched poppy with marked side facing up on a table covered with plastic.

Starting in the center and working outward, paint Black dye in the center of the poppy using the ½” brush. Start away from the stitching line and work carefully up to it. The dye will migrate. If it migrates over the stitching line, don’t worry too much but try to avoid it. (You may want to experiment on a scrap of fabric to see how far the dye will migrate.)

Using the 1” brush, start to dye-paint the Cherry Red dye in the petals, one at a time. Paint around the black center, stroking from the center outward. Fill in about half of each petal. As with the black dye, start slightly away from the stitching line.

Using the Tangerine dye, fill in the remainder of the petals, stroking outward and blending it in with the Cherry Red that you’ve already used.

Continue painting in the remainder of the petals as in steps 2 and 3. Note: When you paint in the petals, make sure you paint all the way out to the cut edge of the fabric. This ensures that the sides of your quilt will look good when you mount it to the artist’s canvas.

Using the Golden Yellow dye, blend in some highlights around the edges of your flower and here-and-there on several of the petals.

Step 5:

Using the Apple Green dye and the 1” brush, dye-paint the background around the poppy.

Allow the dye-painted fabric to air dry. After the fabric dries, you can add small beads, French knots, or other types of dimensional embellishments.

Step 6:

Mounting Quilt to Artist’s Canvas:

After your quilt has dried completely, turn it face down on your work surface.

Center the artist’s canvas over your quilt, making sure that the quilt batting and the artist’s canvas line up.

Using a staple gun, mount the quilt to the artist’s canvas, stretching it as you staple. Turn the corners to the back as you would wrap a package.

Step 7:

Adding Details:

Using the ultra fine point marker, draw around the outer edges of the petals, following the stitching lines. Then draw details in the center of the poppy. Be sure to sign and date your work! If desired, spray the fabric with Scotch Guard for extra protection.