Marbling

I’ve purchased a number of pieces of hand marbled fabric over the years. One of my favorites was a fat quarter dyed by Debbie Huff, which I used in a quilt I entitled Crossings II ~ Water and the Spirit.

The fabric was so beautiful that I simply quilted it on the lines of the marbling with invisible thread, finished it in four sections, and beaded them back together as a part of my Crossings series. A few strings of beads adorn the upper left corner and finish it nicely. It’s one of my favorites, so much so that it hangs in my studio.

Another piece I purchased years ago made a lovely cover for my Bible (click here for a post about the making if it).

I do admire beautiful marbling. In fact I bought a silk top at the IQA show in Houston back in the 90s, and I wear it often. The marbling still looks great after many washings.

While at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham I watched a fabric marbling demo. Craig did a great job and helped me make this small sample. He dropped the paint and let me do some of the swirls.

I decided their beginner kit was something I needed to bring back and play with at a future Fiberistas sew day. I tried it out at home on the 4″ x 6″ pieces of fabric included in the kit. The results weren’t stellar, but they weren’t bad either for a first attempt.

I brought the supplies, along with some muslin pieces I’d soaked in alum, to our next sew day and we had fun playing.

So we decided to play more at our next get together – but on larger pieces. I didn’t take any photos at our second attempt, and I think it was because our results were not all that good. Especially for Lori and me. I began with muslin soaked in alum, and the paint patterns on the float liquid looked beautiful, but when I rinsed the fabric afterwards most of the paint washed away and I was left with some rather pale fabric.

What happened? The colors turned out so much better on the fabric from the kit. Ruth loaned me a few pieces of the fabric she’d brought and the color was better (thanks Ruth).

I emailed her and she said it was unbleached muslin treated in the same way mine was. Hmm. I decided to pull out some of my Kona “prepared for dye” fabric (the expensive stuff), and I soaked it in alum for 2 days. I was determined to make prettier large pieces! I set up everything in the kitchen and began in earnest.

The paint on the marbling medium was beautiful – as usual!

And it looked good when the fabric dropped on top. The paint really seemed to soak in well this time.

I decided to let it sit without rinsing for a while after pulling it off the marbling medium.

And when I did rinse, dry, and iron it, I still was disappointed with the lack of brightness:

Perhaps I just haven’t tried the right muslin yet. I’m not sure what to do to improve things, so I think I’ll continue to buy hand dyed and marbled fabric from people who are good at making it. I now have an even greater appreciation for the skill it takes to do this well.

Have you had success with marbling fabric? Any suggestions? Any photos you’d like to share?