Quilters Boutique

swbiblio says:

There are paints and markers made especially for fabrics in every price range. It depends in part on the age and skill level of the kids, and in how much you want to spend. Dick Blick is an art supply store that has a great website. The links below are to fabric paints, markers and even crayons. You can get different effects depending on the product – some markers bleed easily, others hold a fairly tight line. Some blend, some don’t. Most need to be heat set, so be prepared to iron.

If you’re really on a tight budget, you can even use plain old crayons. Crayola has fabric crayons that you use to draw on paper, then iron onto the fabric. The Crayola website includes instructions for melting the crayons and "painting" with them, among other things. I’ve even heard of some people using regular crayons directly on the fabric, the, pressing (with a pressing clothing between the iron and the drawing) until the crayon has melted and absorbed into the fabric. Experiment with different ideas so you’re familiar with the possibilities before you take it into the classroom.

If you want to PAINT rather than DRAW, you can mix regular acrylic craft paint with a textile medium. They’re available at your local craft stores – the textile medium is right next to the paints, so look for a bottle with a clear liquid in it. The textile medium thins the paint a bit, and allows it to absorb into the fabric so it doesn’t flake off later.

I do NOT recommend the little bottles of fabric paint that you write with. I used these (admittedly, it was years ago) and was not happy with the results. It left a plastic line sitting above the fabric, rather than absorbing into the fabric. It was easy to pick off (distractingly so).

h_brida says:

Acrylic.

If it gets where you don’t want it, wash/rinse with cold water immediately. It "sets" more quickly if it’s heated.

shatteredegg says:

Normal acrylic paints work fine, I’ve even used gold & bronze acrylic paints & it was colorfast & does not bleed, they are easily mixed, limited only to the painters imagination & cleans up with water, no brush cleaners needed, non-toxic too-these can be found at Walmart, JoAnns, Michaels, there are also "fabric" paints, these may be higher priced, I’ve seen them but never used them. The fabric paints also come in "puffy" versions, don’t know how quick that might fall off a quilt though.

CB says:

I’ve done a little of this but am by no means an expert. I found fabric paint and markers at a craft store (Michaels in my area). They seemed to work pretty well. I used the paints for stamping with foam stamps and the markers for drawing or signing the squares.