Last month I got out my Paintstiks and rubbing plates and did some playing around.   If you don’t know about Paintstiks, you can Google them and get lots of info.  You can buy them in various sets or individually on Amazon; here is a link to one set: Jack Richeson Shiva Oil Paintstik, Iridescent Colors, Set of 12 .  The rubbing plates – and a book explaining how to use the Paintstiks – came from Cedar Canyon.  Here is a link to the book: Cedar Canyon Textiles Paintstiks On Fabric
and a link to the leaf rubbing plates I used: Artist’s Paintstiks Rubbing Plates 6/Pkg.-Leaves

Here is a photo showing my layout of the six rubbing plates I own – all are leaf designs – taped to my cutting table so they wouldn’t move around:

Rubbing plates taped down in a grid

Then I laid black fabric down on top and taped it off, both to hold it in place and to keep from accidentally getting paint where I didn’t want it.  The photo below shows the results after I rubbed  stencil brushes on the Paintstiks and then transferred the paint to the black fabric, rubbing the brush in one direction diagonally across the plates:

Rubbed leaves colored with gold, bronze, and copper Paintstiks.

I used three different color iridescent paintstiks to rub the plates – gold, copper, and bronze.  The stencil brushes keep you from getting globs of paint on your fabric.  And here is the completed fabric:

Completed Paintstik leaf blocks

My photo isn’t great- the actual blocks look very good!  Nice and shiny and the different colors add complexity.

Then, of course, I had to think up something to do with my painted blocks.  So I made up a pattern, bought some coordinating fabrics, and here is the result:

Squares Upon Squares quilt, about 54 by 67 inches

I am pleased with this quilt and, since I wrote up the directions for it before making the quilt, I will probably make it available as a pattern sometime soon.   Here is a closeup that shows the Paintstik blocks better:

Squares Upon Squares closeup