Over Painting
I have a piece that’s in the too-ugly-to-see-the-light-of-day category. I finished it in 2003 and was pretty happy with it until I decided to make some “improvements.” My attempts backfired, resulting in the quilt’s current status.
It’s been languishing in my closet ever since, waiting for more, uh, improvements. So, I got the idea to paint over it. My idea was to paint sort of lightly so the stitched areas wouldn’t catch the paint, and this would create an interesting texture and design.
Not being brave enough to try this on the front of the quilt, I started experimenting with the back. Here’s my first little spot: Click images to view larger.
Hey! That looked pretty intriguing! Pretty soon I was considering the back as the new front. I removed the label and hanging sleeve and had great fun adding paint.
Painters tape was used to mark off a few areas.
This is how it looks right now. I think it’s very interesting, although it’s clearly just a start.
What now? Is it the new front? Should I add more paint? Or alter these colors? Should I paint the faced edge? With such a subtle design, how can I add to it? Sheers, perhaps?
Maybe I’ll paint the front a little and then see which side excites me the most. Either way, this was a big adrenalin surge, and I’m glad I did it. Not sure where it will lead me, but I’ll keep you posted.
Ellen Lindner
Ellen–I think you are on the right track with this experiment. I’d like to see you continue with this, it’s got a lot of potential. Great idea to do it on the back first.
[…] while back, I got the idea to paint over an ugly quilt. Although I never finished that project, it was clear that the idea of painting over quilted areas […]