Getting down to business

The two pieces I have in mind are setting me off in a new way of working.  In the past, I've usually had something planned in my mind, and then jumped right in with fabric and paint.  This time, I have a certain "look"  I want to achieve, and have to figure out how to do that.  I thought I had two options--fabric paint which is transparent and acrylic which is opaque.  My brain was telling me that I wanted opaque, but never having used fabric paint over the whole quilt top, I figured that I needed to learn more about it before starting to slap it on my limited amount of fabric.  I bought a video download lesson on painting on fabric.  The teacher uses a fairly thick layer of paint, but then FMQ's right through it.  This concerns me.  I've quilted through a thin layer, of acrylic, but noticed quite a change in the sound of the machine when it hit a slightly thicker section.  So I did a test strip with sections of all of the thicknesses and types of paint I was considering, planning to quilt the strip so that I had a tru comparison.  I have fallen in love with, and are determined to use, a polished cotton, so did a second test strip of the cotton, after it had been washed but before painting it.  I wasn't really happy with the look of either of the paints, thick or thin.  In desperation I tried a couple of Shiva Paint Sticks that I had on hand.  Absolutely perfect!  Exactly the look I want!  Once this test strip is dry, I'll quilt it and then apply some acrylic paint, as I plan to do in the finished piece.  I need to be sure that the acrylic paint will adhere to the dry oil paint.

I have been on the internet looking at pictures of the images I plan to use.  I find that it helps to view a lot of different images.  They tend to blur together in my mind, but the distinctive bits stay, and come together to form an entirely new, and original, arrangement.   In the meantime, I need to do a sample of the FMQ'g pattern that I hope to use.  It is quite complex and practise in indicated!