Make a Colorful Paper Towel Quilt for a Unique Wall Art Piece

Paper Towels as Art?

When it comes to using paper towels to create a paper towel quilt, not all of them are created equal. Heather explains what kinds of paper towels are better and easier to use, including those that have one and two layers and those that have a ‘quilted’ pattern already on the surface. She then shows how to lay them out on a plastic surface and apply paint. Once the paint has dried the paper towels can be layered with a batting and backing fabric and then quilted.

Heather explains that she adheres the paper towels to the batting and backing using a fusible adhesive before quilting to give the paper towels a longer life. The paper towel quilts are then fairly heavily quilted to ensure everything stays in place. Paper towel quilts make great art pieces, though they can not be laundered. Heather gives several tips on how to finish and protect your paper towel art quilt to allow it to last longer.

Painting Paper Towels

For her paper towel quilt, Heather uses ink that has been watered down and placed in a spray bottle. This allows her to spray the paint onto the towel over stencils or other designs. She demonstrates how to do this as well as how to use a brush to apply the ink in several ways. Once the paper towel she is working with has been decorated she demonstrates how to use a different towel to ‘clean up’ her work area and create another piece of towel to be used in future quilting projects.