Even though I’ve been making paintstik rubbings for a gazillion years now, I still find myself running off the edge of a plate and putting paint where I don’t want it. Or dropping my paintstick on the fabric, or something that causes me to say “Oops!” (Yes, sometimes I say something other than “oops” but I won’t share those comments here — I don’t want to tarnish my image…)

First off, let me say that I’m not usually looking for perfection. When I’m adding designs to fabric, especially with rubbings, it’s perfectly OK that they look hand made! I’m not a machine and I don’t need my fabric to look like it was made by a machine.

Having said that, there are times when I want a “pretty darn good” image when I’m making a rubbing. It took me a lot of practice, trial and error, but I’ve got a couple of tips for minimizing those pesky “oops” moments and rescuing a piece of fabric rather than starting over.

A Quick Review

In the past 3 weeks, I shared my Top Tips for Great Rubbings. If you have just joined us, or you missed those articles, you can scroll back through the blog entries or use these links.

1 – Better Tools for Better Rubbings

2 – I Should Use Which Part of My Paintstik?

3 – Are You Allergic to Single Colors?

I’ve said it before (and I’ll say it again!) — my “secret weapons” for making rubbings can really make your life easier. Here is a brief recap of my Top 3 Tips for Great Rubbings.

1. A Grip-n-Grip mat on your work surface will keep the rubbing plates from moving around while you work.

2. A coating of 404 spray on the top of your rubbing plate will keep the fabric where you put it.

3. Using the SIDE of your paintstik rather than the end will keep you from dipping down into any large openings in the plate design as you paint. If you want to know more, pop over to the blog with the links above to refresh your memory.

Fixing the “Oops!”

I’m quite confident that I’m not the only person that runs off the side of my rubbing plates or has some extraneous “drag” marks on my fabric. (Don’t feel bad — it happens to the best of us.) With all my years of experience making these boo-boos, I thought I should share a few tips for minimizing the mistakes.

Here is a typical rubbing. The elements are colored in, but I have run off the edge of my plate and I’ve got some drag marks between the design elements. Because I was making this rubbing for a sample quilt for my friends at Brewer Quilting Supplies, I wanted my blocks to be pretty clean. Not perfect, but cleaner than where I started.

Masking Tape — The Magic Eraser

I’ve learned to keep a roll of masking tape handy. I call it my Magic Eraser. Here’s how I use it:

When I have paint where I don’t want it and it’s easily accessible, I use masking tape to lift off the excess paint. I used blue tape for the photos, but the regular tape actually works better as it’s a bit stickier than the blue painter’s tape.

The first step is to put the tape over the excess paint and rub it firmly into the fabric.

The second step is to lift the tape off the fabric. Most of the paint will come with it. You may need to repeat this 2 or 3 times. The tape will not pick up the last traces of the paint, but the mistake will certainly not be as glaring as it was to start with.

Masking tape is also useful for picking up those pesky bits of paintstik skin that always seem to appear when I’m making rubbings. I just take a piece of the tape and use the sticky side to gently blot the areas with those little blobs of paint. (Gently is the key word here — you don’t want to pick up too much paint.)

If I’m working on a piece of yardage, I’ll even (gently) use a masking tape lint roller to clean up any excess paint blobs. If you decide to try this, put a towel or some batting under your fabric and roll very lightly over the painted fabric. If you use too much pressure, you’ll pick up far more paint than you had intended.

Q-Tips To The Rescue

I mentioned that I use tape when the “oops” is accessible. It works wonders around the edges of a rubbing, but it’s too clumsy for cleaning up drag marks in the middle of a rubbing. At this point, I break our the cotton swabs.

I put my fabric on a grip-n-grip mat to make sure it doesn’t move around, and I pull most of the cotton from the end of the swab. Then I rub over the areas with the drag marks with the swab. Some of the paint comes up on the swab. Some is worked into the fabric. Between the two, the rubbing looks much cleaner and I’m a happy camper.

All Cleaned Up!

Here is the same rubbing after I minimized the boo-boos with masking tape and cotton swabs. (No, I did not hide anything with Photoshop!) It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn good and definitely suitable to take it’s place in my quilt.

Paintstik Patches

I was looking through my photos, and I couldn’t find a finished photo of the red and green silk quilt I made for Brewer Sewing. Here’s a photo of the quilt I made from the Happy Holidays rubbing plates. (This quilt was the first time I contemplated making Rubbing Plate Portraits to use as quilt blocks.)

I also made a table runner from rubbing plate portraits. I used brighter fabrics and the Floral Fantasy Rubbing Plates.

Make Your Own Quilts!

If you would like instructions for these quilts, you can order our Paintstik Patches Pattern from the Online Store. Like all of our patterns, the instructions are in color and full of the tips and information you need to make a delightfully artful quilt.

Use this link to view the Paintstik Patches Pattern
Use this link to see all of our Rubbing Plates

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely a “multi-color” girl. What ever I do, what ever I create, I want LOTS and LOTS of color! Why would I confine myself to one or two colors when I can use a bunch? Today I’ve got tips on how you can make multi-color rubbings. With the tools and tips I’ve discussed the last 2 weeks, it’s easy!

I’ve been working with paintstiks and rubbing plates for over 10 years. In that time, I’ve almost always overlapped the images and made an overall print on my fabric — much like making a batik. But as I was making samples from the Happy Holidays plates several years ago, an idea popped into my head. I really liked each of the images just by itself.

I promptly discovered that making a rubbing of a single image (what I’m calling a portrait) is very different than working in overall patterns. I wanted my blocks to be really crisp and clean, without a lot of mistakes around the edges. It took a little practice, but I came up with a method that works pretty well, and I’d like to share it with you.

Stop the Slip with Grippy Mats and Sticky Spray

For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been sharing my Top Tips for Great Rubbings. If you have just joined us, or you missed those posts, you can read the entries using these links.

1 – Better Tools for Better Rubbings

2 – I Should Use Which Part of My Paintstik?

You may be tired of hearing me talk about grippy mats and sticky spray, but bear with me. Our Top Tips for Great Rubbings are incredibly important if you want to make rubbing plate portraits.

Rubbing plates are slippery and you have to tame them to get nice, clean rubbings. A Grip-n-Grip mat on your work surface will keep the rubbing plates from moving around while you work, and a coating of 404 spray on the top of your rubbing plate will keep the fabric where you put it. (Now, if only I had figure this out 10 years ago!)

The side benefit of using 404 spray on your plates is that you can press your fabric onto the plate and actually see where the plate is under your fabric. Here’s a a piece of silk that has been gently pressed onto a sprayed rubbing plate. See what I mean?

Make a Ghost Image

The next step is to make a very light rubbing to make sure you know where all the edges are. Think of this as a “ghost” image. It’s easy to add more paint for a brighter image because the sticky spray is holding the fabric in place.

Add More Color

Once you have a ghost image, it’s time to add more paint for a brighter image. This is the time to use multiple colors, or just make the image darker. You know where all the design elements are, so it’s easier to avoid running off the edges of the plate. At least that is the theory. In the real world, I usually end up with a few boo-boos, and it’s almost impossible not to have some drag marks between the rubbing plate images. I’ll take about how to fix those next week.

Example: Multi-Color Holiday Lights

Here is a walk through the process with the Lights plate from the Happy Holidays rubbing plate set.

First, I sprayed the rubbing plate with 404 to make it “sticky.” I gently pressed the fabric over the plate so I could “see” where the design elements were on the plate. Then I used the SIDE of my paintstik (iridescent light gold) to make a very light rubbing. The purpose of this “ghost image” is simply to “find” all of the design elements on the plate. (I added contrast to this photo — the ghost image does not have to be very bright.)

I definitely use the SIDE of the paintstik to make this first image. That way I don’t dip down into the larger openings in the design — where I don’t want any paint.

Once I found all the design elements, I used other paintstik colors right over the top of the light gold. It’s quite easy to cover up the original color. The lights are pretty big, so I was able to use the side of my paintstiks to add these colors.

After adding various colors to the string of lights, I used the END of the light gold paintstik to add color to the strings, stars and the caps of the lights. I could go back over these elements with confidence — the ghost image showed me where the elements were — and the sticky spray kept the fabric from shifting on the plate.

If you follow these tips for multi-color rubbings, you’ll be making fabulous Rubbing Plate Portraits in no time flat. Try it — it really works!

In the last post, I discussed how the addition of 2 key tools can make a huge difference in the results you see when making rubbings with Paintstiks. Today, I have two more tips for making rubbings.

A little history…

When I began working with paintstiks, I always used the end of the paintstik for making rubbings. That’s what I read about, and that’s what I did. As a matter of fact, it never occurred to me to do anything else. It wasn’t until Nancy Kazlauckas and I were doing the photo shoot for the Leaves pattern that I even thought about what I was doing.

I asked Nancy to model for some pattern photos. When we got to one particular picture, she said, “I don’t make rubbings that way.” I just looked at her in surprise and asked her how she worked, thinking to myself “OK, I’ve been making rubbings for years — just what have I missed?” Nancy just looked at me, smiled, and said “I use the side of the paintstik, not the end.” As you can see from this photo, Nancy gets great rubbings using this method.

I felt like I was in one of those V8 commercials where someone smacked me upside the head. Not to mention that I felt a little silly that I had not thought of this myself! I grabbed a piece of scrap fabric, tried out Nancy’s technique and was simply amazed at the results. I think you will be too!

The “standard” instructions for making rubbings

I had been teaching people to use paintsiks for about 7 years when Nancy and I had our conversation. Doing what I had always done, I used a “standard” set of instructions.

• > Remove the film from the end of the paintstik
• > Place a textured object under your fabric
• > Hold the fabric down securely with one hand (or tape it down)
• > Apply paintstick color directly to the fabric, working in one direction, away from the hand holding the fabric  (don’t try to rub back and forth)
• > Continue adding color until you are happy with the results

A better method for making rubbings

To use Nancy’s amazing tip and the tools we learned about last week, we need to make a few changes to the process:

• > Remove the paintstik from the cardboard tube
• > Using a vegetable peeler (or a small paring knife), peel the film from the side of the paintstik rather than the end
• > Place a Grip-n-Grip mat on your work surface
• > Spray the top of your rubbing plate with 404 spray
• > Place the rubbing plate on the mat, sticky side up
• > Cover the rubbing plate with fabric
• > Apply paintstik color directly to the fabric, using the SIDE of the paintstik rather than the end
• > Continue adding color until you are happy with the results

And you WILL be happier with the results using this method! It really works! Let’s look at a few photos.

In the photo above, I removed the film from the end of the Blue paintstik. To prepare the red paintstik, I removed it from the cardboard tube and used a knife to peel the film from the side of the stick. (I generally peel the film about 1/3 to 1/2 of the stick, not all the way around.) Nancy likes to use the entire length of a full-size paintstik when she works, but I find it easier to work with something a little smaller.

If I am working with minis, I peel the film off the full length of the mini. If I have full size paintstiks, I cut the stick in half. I use one half for the rubbings and leave the other half intact for another project. Unless, of course, I need more paint…

Why use the side of the paintstik?

So, why do I think this is the best thing since sliced bread? It’s pretty clear once you give it a try, but I’ll do my best to explain. When you make rubbings with the end of the paintstik, you are working with a very small surface area. If your textured surface or rubbing plate has large open areas between the design elements, it’s easy for the paintstik to drop down into the “holes” in the design and for the rubbing to get rather messy.

If you use the side of the paintstik, you are working with a large, flat surface area. Your paint will stay out of the holes, and it’s much, much easier to get a nice, clean image — especially when you add a Grip-n-Grip mat and 404 spray to the recipe!

The right technique for the right job

Should you always use the side of your paintstik to make rubbings? Not necessarily. It’s a matter of using the right technique for the right job. If you are making rubbings from small, detailed textures, the end of the paintstik will be a much better tool. For example, this photo shows the first step in using Laura Murray’s StarBuilder shapes to make star parts.

(Click over to Laura Murray Designs to find out more about StarBuilders. And while you are there, be sure to check out the unmounted stamps. Laura does amazing things with paintstik colors that are as simple as paint, cut and fuse! Oops… I’m getting carried away… back to our lesson.)

But, if you are adding lots of rubbings to your fabric using our rubbing plates or large textured surfaces, using the side of your paintstik is much faster and gives beautiful, clean images. You’ll be making gorgeous yardage in no time at all!

The bottom line on better rubbings

The best 3 tips I can give you for making better rubbings (from this post and the last one) are

1. Use a Grip-n-Grip mat to keep your rubbing plates from sliding around as you work
2. Spray the top of the rubbing plate with 404 spray to keep your fabric from sliding around on the rubbing plate
3. Use the side of the paintstik rather than the end to get crisp, clear images

Grip-n-Grip mats are from Bear Thread Designs and you can find them in our Online Store. 404 spray is from JT Trading. Check with your local sewing center for 404 or a similar product.

Have fun with those rubbings!