How to Transfer a Picture Into a Quilt Block

You can easily personalize light-colored quilt squares.

Quilts can be very personal gifts, especially if the squares are made of fabrics important to the recipient. Quilters often turn beloved old clothes into quilt squares, but there is a way to personalize a quilt even more. By transferring images onto your white or light-colored squares, you can memorialize important events through photos or include a child's drawings in your quilt. Any image that can be scanned and laser-printed can be transferred onto a quilt block.

Things You'll Need

• Iron
• Laser-printed image
• Acrylic gel medium
• Spoon

Instructions

1. Wash and dry the quilt block. Press it flat with a hot iron.

2. Dip your fingers into a jar of gel medium and spread a thin coat onto the area of the quilt block where you want to place the image.

3. Place the image face-down on the quilt block. Rub the entire back of the image with the back of a spoon to help transfer the image.

4. Allow the gel medium to dry completely.

5. Run water over the quilt block until the paper begins to peel away. Use your fingernail to scrape off all the paper under the running water. The image will remain on the quilt block.

Tips & Warnings

• While gel medium transfers are machine-washable, always wash quilts in the gentle cycle and hang them to dry for best results.

• Do not use ink jet prints for image transfers. Only laser prints will work.

References

• Kroma Acrylics: Interesting Ways to Use Acrylic Paint
• How About Orange: How to Transfer an Image to Fabric with Gel Medium

Resources

• Craft of Quilting