Photos on Fabric

My CURRENT BIG PROJECT is putting together the leftover Splendid Sampler blocks to make a quilt. I wanted Lilly to help with some of the sewing...and it seemed like a good idea to incorporate some HAMILTON elements into the project...

Hummm....

 I want to experiment with some new techniques, like Quilt-As-You-Go (more about that later)...

So this project was a topic of discussion at a recent Featherweight Friday event...

I brought my pile of Splendid Sampler blocks...(most of them are Linda P rejects)...

I thought about writing Hamilton lyrics on other blocks, so I did a laundry test...And THAT was educational!!

I don't have enough blocks for an entire quilt...and have no energy to make another 20-30 blocks...so the layout will be something like this...

THEN -- the big question was going to be whether or not I should incorporate some pictures of Lilly in her Hamilton garb??

The first thing I did was experiment with the print-a-photo-on-fabric using butcher paper to carry it through my printer. The results were SPECTACULAR!!

But, then, I decided it would be wise to WASH those photo/fabric blocks BEFORE I got too far along with the project...

You'll see what happens....

The picture of the Hamilton Playbill came out GREAT!! I set it with a hot iron, and let the ink cure for almost a week, then more of the hot iron...

I was VERY HOPEFUL...

But, sadly -- this is the Playbill photo AFTER I washed it.  Ugh.

Same thing with the picture of Lilly, wearing her favorite Hamilton outfit!  It printed GREAT...

Then, I washed it.

This picture of Lin-Manuel Miranda came off the internet.  And it PRINTED GREAT, using my HP printer and butcher paper to carry the fabric...

But, after just one washing -- clearly, 80% of the ink is just gone.

The lesson I learned is that a home-style ink-jet printer uses water soluble ink. DUH!! WHAT DID I THINK WAS GONNA HAPPEN WHEN I WASHED IT?? And, believe me -- my experience is not unique.

 I  received 20 emails from people who spent a lot of time and money creating a "memory quilt" with their home printer -- and the pictures simply dissolved the first time it was washed. (in one case, the quilt had been under a bed for nearly 10 years...and after laundering, there was nothing but gray blotches where the pictures had been..)

Gheesh...I was sooo disappointed.  It seemed like such a cheap and cheerful way to incorporate some photos into this project.

I could use the pre-packaged Photo Fabric sheets.  They are expensive, but the photos won't fade so badly (they WILL fade -- because it's still water soluble ink in my printer).  But my biggest issue is that the sheet will remain stiff...and that felt like quite a negative...