Cats (and People) Who Quilt

Cats Who Quilt -- Where Quilters and Cats Meet on the Web

Return to the main tutorial page.

Return to the main page.

Buy the book "Cats Who Quilt." Buy your cat the "Certificate of Membership in the League of Cat Quilters." Make your cat very happy. Buy other stuff too, like some of the other cat quilt pattern books featured on this Web site.

Read stories about special cats who quilt, submitted by visitors to this Web site. Submit your own story about your quilting cat.

Sewing Room Safety Tips for Cats--And Dogs

Please read these all-important sewing room safety tips for pets!

Free Cat Quilt Patterns to Download

World's Biggest Cat Quilt Pattern Database. Find cat quilting patterns in this "shareware" directory of cat patterns around the world.

Read excerpts from the book 'Cats Who Quilt'

Read more excerpts from the book 'Cats Who Quilt'

Read the Table of Contents of 'Cats Who Quilt'

Certificate of Membership in League of Cats Quilters'

Read about the Certificate which comes in the book, or can be purchased separately.

History of the Web site, and the book's rocky road into print.

You can read about me and find out why I do these crazy things.

Proof that all our needlework projects come from a higher source.

Is there a special guy in your life who helps run your quilting Web site, who drives you to fabric stores, who humors you with "Honey, but that quilt looks lovely!" when you're too embarrassed to pull it out of the closet? Honor your special guy here in our special feature Quilt Guy of the Month!

Looking for information on how to use a sewing machine with a blow stick or help for quilting if your eyesight is failing? Here's some help.

Is your cat from outer space or has she simply been abducted by aliens? Find out here.

Judy's Own Wierd Way for Printing Photos on Fabric with an Inkjet

This is Copyright 2002 Judy Heim. You may link to this Web page, but please, please don't distribute this material in e-mail messages or post it on your Web site or in your quilting guild newsletter without my permission. I don't make a lot of money as a writer, I'm only a scribbler because I'm seriously handicapped and can't make my living in any other fashion. I eek out a living as best as I can. I don't mind sharing what I write with other people, and in fact enjoy it very much. But when I find things that I've written on other people's Web sites without my name and used without my permission, it's hurtful and it's frustrating. In the past year I've found entire chapters of books that I've written posted on other people's Web sites without my name or my permission. I've also found essays that I've written circulating anonymously on mailing lists and in newsgroups. Please respect what other people write. I'm happy to share, but I ask only that my work be respected. If you'd like to republish this material, I ask only that you drop me a note requesting permission.

I've Told You About All the Standard and Tested Method of Printing on Fabric with a Computer Printer, But Here's a Unique Way That Will Never Let You Down

Strange things happen when you stay up all night playing with craft supplies. Your walls acquire stencils of cows they never had before. Lamp shades end up sawed in half. And you begin to understand why Michaelangelo spent so much time on the top of that ladder.

I discovered something one night while playing blissfully with inks and brushes. By soaking your freezer paper-backed fabric sheets with clear stenciling ink you can create fabric sheets that you can print in any inkjet printer. You make the images permanent by heat-treating them. The photo or other art that you print on the fabric will hold up remarkably well in the wash, and it’s colors will remain as vibrant as they appear on your computer screen. Forever and ever.

There is one drawback to this technique: Your fabric ends up with a plastic-like coating. This can be good or bad, depending upon your project. You probably won't want to embroider through fabric that has been plasticized. But if you are making, say, a colorful fabric pocket for a child's apron, this may be just the technique to use to get the art to the fabric.

This method works best on cotton muslin. It does not work well with light fabrics such as silk, or "airy" fabrics such as linen. Linen ends up feeling like rubber if you coat it in stenciling ink. This technique does not work with cross-stith Aida cloth either.

Step 1: Paint Clear Stenciling Ink on Your Freezer-Paper Backed Fabric Sheet

Paint each of your fabric sheets with clear stenciling ink. I recommend Deka-Print Colorless Textile Screening Ink, #600. You can find it at most art stores. Use a large paint brush to slather it on--one of those cheap $1 house-painting trim brushes works great. Paint the fabric thoroughly, making sure that you coat all of the fabric and don’t leave any unpainted gaps.

Step 2: Let the Fabric Sheet Dry

Place your wet freezer paper-backed fabric sheet somewhere where it can try thoroughly undisturbed. Give it at least a full 24 hours to dry. Once it dries, do not iron it! No, no, no!

Step 3: Print the Fabric Sheet in Your Inkjet Printer

You can print your treated freezer paper-backed fabric sheet in your inkjet printer just as you would aper. When the fabric comes out of the printer, handle it carefully. The ink may be wet for a while. You don’t want to smear the image. Do not peel the freezer paper off the fabric just yet. Let it sit in a safe place for an evening or two to dry.

Step 4: Heat-Set the Fabric Sheet

Once the fabric is dry, carefully peel off the freezer paper. Get a super-hot iron ready--I mean super hot. Heat it up to its hottest setting. Place a clean sheet or rag on your ironing board to protect it. Start by ironing the back of the fabric.

IRON, IRON, IRON!

Iron the front.

IRON, IRON, IRON!

Continue to iron both sides of the fabric, pressing down hard. This will set your image in the stenciling ink. When you’re done ironing, let the fabric cool.

Quilty Line Break

Cats Who Quilt is a trademark of Fruitful Plains. Text on this Web site Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Judy Heim. May not be reproduced in any form--in either e-mail messages or on Web sites without written permission. All illustrations are copyright 2000, 2001, and 2002 Irina Borisova. They may not be reproduced without permission. Photos and quilts are copyrighted by their respective artists, and may not be reproduced without their permission.