The Floorcloths
This project was finished in February 2021 and it was one of the most satisfying projects I’ve ever done. It’s right up there with the Mosaic wall. this wasn’t easy and I had a ton of problems with allergies to the Sharpie markers. Because of that it took a long time but was totally worth it.
There are 2 cloths that are about 7 feet long in front of the sink and stove and one that’s less than 3 feet long in front of the fridge.
These started with plain artist canvas bought on a large roll. They were primed on both sides with gesso and then I painted one side with satin wall paint in three shades of a brown to blend with the floor. If you look close you can see that I painted them with grain line directions to match the wood planks.
Here’s the smaller one that’s in front of the refrigerator. We had fabric covered floor clothes here before that had to be at least 10 years old. They did a great job of protecting the floor and they are still in fine shape. They will go into the guest house.
Here’s a gallery with close ups of the designs. All of the designs were done with Wild Gears. Wild Gears are an ingenious upgrade of our childhood Spirograph. You know that Spirograph was brilliant because it’s just as popular as ever. It was one of my favorite toys and Wild Gears is one of my favorite grown up toys. (I was going to say “adult toys” but it really doesn’t fit in that general category.)
I used Super Sharpie markers to get a really bold line and I probably went through a dozen or more on this project. As soon as I noticed any fading in the mark I got out a new marker. The designs that appear to be “on top” were the first drawn. To draw a layered design I had to be careful to stop and start lines at the edge of the design on top. There were mistakes and I did have to do some “erasing” with paint.
Chris and I finished them by folding under a hem and using the glue gun to stick it in place. He coated the underside with one coat of polyurethane and 3 coats on top. The have rug pads under them to keep them from slipping on the floor. I hope these will last as long as the last ones or until we leave this house because making a 7 foot floor cloth is a pain.
If you are interested the Wild Gear Sets that I used in this project are:
Compact Set
Enormous Hoops
Full Page
Hoops
Modular
Oval
Plentiful
Strange Shapes
3-Way Modular Connectors
Triangle Hoops
Quilt Labels
These are some of the quilt labels (and a couple of other projects) that I have made with Wild Gears or Zentangle.
