Painting On A Finished Quilt

Painting On A Finished Quilt

When looking at totally finished quilt one day and realizing that something was wrong with it (and I mean even after putting a name label on it, and entering it into a show) is a heartbreaking experience.  You might have to put it in the closet for months or years as a solution comes to your awareness.  This happened to me, with my Sheep Creek, MT quilt.  The mistake was probably made from all of the moves around the country I make, while working on a quilt.  A fence railing piece must have "rotated", and I never realized it until it was too late.  But was it really too late?  I don't like to give up, as the quilt meant so much to me, but the error, that perhaps only I noticed, irked my soul.

Here is a before and after picture of the quilt.  Do you see the difference?  Below them is the photo I took, which the quilt was designed from.

I dream about quilting, so solution ideas popped up in my dreams.  As perhaps, I could take the quilt apart, fix it, and then put it back together?  The problem of rotating that asymmetrical piece of fabric, meant that it would not fit, and I did not have anymore to replace it.  Also, the quilt had been appliquéd using fusible web (which might never come off), and then finished with a tulle fabric on top.  Therefore, taking it all apart could cause more damage than benefit.  Perhaps painting the fabric would work?  I researched online, advice from others about painting tulle fabric, and saw that it had been successfully done using acrylic paint.  So I did a little sample to make sure.  Here is an image of that, and the paints I used.

After painting, the paint must be heat set, so I used a blow dryer.  I am thrilled with the results!