Monday, April 8, 2013

I Got A Brand New Box of Crayons

I have some quilting friends 
that do beautiful embroidery work.
They are always working on the latest
Crabapple Hill patterns.

I like to embroider too,
but it always seems there are other pressing
projects to work on.

My friends, Julie, made me lovely kit
 with the pattern "Sweet Violette"
by Crabapple Hill 
and included the floss and 
the best part was she traced 
the pattern on fabric.

But I couldn't get started until
I got a brand new box of crayons.
 The design included crayon tinting which
I'd never done before.

Another embroidery friend, Becky, had 
given me these sometime ago.

Have you ever seen a box like that before?
All white crayons.

The key to tinting is to first color the areas you plan to tint
with a thick layer of white crayon.
 This fills in the weave of the fabric
and helps to smooth out the other crayon colors.
It can take a lot of white.

The next step is to add the colors and any
 shading, if you're good at that.
I did alittle, nothing too elaborate.

Once you're satistifed, heat set 
the colors.

The heat melts the crayon wax
so the colors smooth out
and blend together.

I'm heading on an adventure soon
so this will be perfect to work on while I'm away.
The tinting was easy and fun,
 just coloring in the lines.

It's a technique that's been around for awhile.
It adds another dimension of color to the embroidery
so you might need to treat yourself to a new box of crayons
and give it a try.


Until Next Time-

13 comments:

  1. I've always wondered how to tint fabric with crayons. What a fabulous tutorial - THANK YOU!
    Your project is beautiful, looking forward to seeing the finish some day!

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  2. I'll have to try this! Looks like such fun, and might be a great way to add embellishment to some of my Betsy's Closet blocks. Thanks for sharing this technique, first time I'd heard about using the white crayon first. Makes perfect sense.

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  3. Love your new violets! I've been interested in tinting with crayons but I'd never heard of the tinting ones to base the color. Are they just regular white crayons? Thanks for the tip!

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  4. Cool--I've never seen this before. What a fun technique!
    That is a beautiful little pattern.

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  5. What a great method of doing this kind of project! I wonder where a person could buy a package of all white crayons? Hmmm..... Have fun on your adventure - I'm leaving on Saturday for a little one of my own!

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  6. News to me. I never heard of coloring with the white first and then the color. And I have never seen a box of all white crayons. I learned something new today.

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  7. Very pretty - and quite addictive! have you seen the Crabapple Hill pattern Gardener's Alphabet? I started that late last summer but all has been put aside until after the wedding. Looking forward to returning to it when life slows down. I am going through white crayons quickly as it is a major size quilt project.

    Love the portability of the Crabapple Hill projects - wishing you happy stitching!

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  8. There aren`t many things in life as exciting as a brand-new box of crayons! And now I have a good reason to buy a box as an adult! Thanks, Kyle!

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  9. Love Crayons.
    I did a batik tinted quilt a few years back - it was so fun!
    I love your project - very spring-y.
    I did not use the white base, but I liked the batik shading showing through.

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  10. This looks really interesting. Can't wait to see how it turns out. Hugs

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  11. how fun to try a new technique!
    Your are such a good colorer - you've stayed inside the lines :)

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