Mickey Lawler's SkyQuilts: 12 Painting Techniques, Create Dynamic Landscape Quilts

by Mickey Lawler

Overview

Create your own beautiful fabric landscapes • Master 12 different fabric painting techniques with detailed, step-by-step photos • Build your own stunning stash of fabrics with painted landscapes, water scenes, and dreamy skies • Learn Mickey's "design strip" technique to make dynamic quilts using large, uncut sections of your fabrics • Suitable for all skill levels; 3 projects included With Mickey Lawler, the best-selling author of SKYDYES, even beginners who have never picked up a brush can learn to paint striking scenes on fabric. She demonstrates how to paint every nuanced texture found in nature, from cloudy skies to rosy sunsets, blue water to green fields, and stone walls to wood grains. Includes a gallery of projects made with lush landscape fabrics that is sure to inspire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607052470
Publisher:	C & T Publishing
Publication date:	03/22/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	205
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Mickey Lawler has been involved in quiltmaking since 1968 and is the creator of SKYDYES, a business specializing in her original hand-painted landscape fabrics. Her exhibits and awards for quilting and surface design have been numerous, including a recent retrospective of 23 of her quilts as a Featured Artist at the San Diego Quilt Show. Co-author of Not Just Another Quilt (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982) and author of SKYDYES: A Visual Guide to Fabric Painting (C&T Publishing, 1999), Mickey also has an instructional DVD (C&T Publishing, 2009), Mickey Lawler Teaches You to Paint Landscape Fabrics. Mickey has been in demand by guilds and at conferences as an enthusiastic instructor of her serendipitous style of fabric painting for more than 20 years. Her workshop students work and play in a relaxed atmosphere that transcends simply learning technique. In her fabric paintings and her classes, Mickey emphasizes collaboration with, rather than mastery over, the medium. The difference, Mickey says, is that students create a personal fabric by learning to listen to the paints as they work and subsequently begin to welcome unexpected results not seen in the commercial fabric industry. A lifelong resident of Connecticut, Mickey received her BA from the College of New Rochelle and her MEd from the University of Hartford. She has engaged in many independent art studies through universities and private courses. She lives in the town in which she grew up and continues to be inspired by the landscape of New England.

Editorial Reviews

Mickey demonstrates 12 techniques that she employs to paint her remarkable sky dye fabrics, and shows how these pieces can be used to create wonderful, moody landscape art. She shares her secrets for mixing paints and metallic media and using brushes, brayers and more to achieve her special sky, water, nature and architectural effects. Three projects at increasing skill levels are given, and the galleries of landscape and patterned quilts made by Mickey and contributing artists show what can be accomplished using her techniques.

Nov/Dec 2012 Machine Quilting Unlimited

Using fabric paint to create your own unique fabric can be great fun and I can't think of a better instructor than Mickey Lawler. Mickey's latest book, Mickey Lawler's SkyQuilts is a great way to get started. The book provides a complete list of all the tools and equipment you will need as well as information on what type of paints, fabrics and brushes work best. Color mixing is covered along with ideas on the best way to set up your painting area. You will learn the difference between painting on damp fabric and painting on dry fabric. Soon you will be working on creating skies and foregrounds. Then on to special effects. Mickey has chosen 5 of the most popular painting techniques that will lend texture and dimension to your project. Using Mickey's 'design strip' technique you will be able to make dramatic quilts using large, uncut sections of your fabrics. All in all you will quickly master 12 different fabric painting techniques. The photos and instructions are very clear and easy to understand and are suitable for all skill levels. There are three projects in this book, Mountains (hand appliqued), Beach Houses (design strip) and City Pillow (this project uses a stencil.) Don't be afraid to try fabric painting. After all, you don't have anything to lose and think of all the beautiful painted landscapes, water scenes and moody skies you can add to your fabric stash!
For those of you who learn visually, you will want to pick up Mickey's DVD “Mickey Lawler Teaches You to Paint Landscape Fabric.” This is like having a private lesson from Mickey right in your own home. Many of the same techniques found in her books are covered on the DVD and you have the added bonus of enjoying Mickey's personality. She will soon wash away all your doubts and have you chomping at the bit to jump into fabric painting. I especially like the chapter titled Oh no, I Messed Up! Sun Printing is also covered. Downloads on the disk are in PDF format and include a color mixing formula sheet and a listing of tools and supplies.

I recommend purchasing both the book and DVD if you can.

September 2012 The Applique Society