Drawing a quilt

Someone on a quilting group asked about drawing with Derwent Inktense™ pencils, and when I looked for my post about them, I realized I'd never written one. This is one of the many techniques/tools I have tried out and loved, but haven't had time to go in-depth with (yet!)

"Serenity" 2010, thread-sketched with watercolor pencil shading.

I got the Inktense™ pencils, which are a watercolor pencil with very concentrated pigment, quite a while ago.
This little quilt I called "Serenity" was one of the first pieces I did using the pencils. For this one, I thread-sketched the scene, then used the pencils, with just a little water, to fill in the shading on the beach, palm tree and water.
I hadn't done much with them since then, until last fall I bought the Derwent Inktense™ Blocks, which look like pastels, but are concentrated blocks of watercolor. They are a little messier to handle, and easy to break, but give big, bold strokes of color.
To draw on fabric, I use bleached muslin which has been washed and dried without any fabric softener, and press it onto freezer paper to give a firm base. 

Derwent Inktense™ watercolor pencils and blocks

For one of my first play days with the pencils and blocks, I just drew random seashells, along with a few other motifs. I experimented with dampening the fabric first, with a brush or spray bottle, leaving it dry and dampening after I drew. I was happiest with the results when I drew on dry fabric, then used a brush to very lightly brush fabric medium on. It took a little practice brushing with the shading of the sketch, so it blended colors rather than smearing them.
Too much fabric medium can result in bleeding, as I found out.

Sketched motifs using the pencils and blocks

I really liked some of my seashells, and wanted to do something with them. So I heat-set them by pressing with a hot iron, then fused MistyFuse™ to the back, then cut them out. I laid out little scenes, using some of my handpainted fabric as background, and cutting seagrasses out of batiks and fusing everything down. Later I quilted and added embellishments.
I really like the pencils and blocks, just need to spend more time to learn more about what I can do with them.

Quilts in progress using the sketched motifs

More later!