I learned this technique from the fabulous new book by Linda and Laura Kemshall, The Painted Quilt: Paint and Print Techniques for Color on Quilts (2007). By the way, I highly recommend this book if you want to try out some wonderful surface design techniques. It has clear instructions, great lists of what you need, and step-by-step photos of everything.
If you want to try this, take a double-sided fusible product (I used Pellon's Wonder Under here) and paint very watery acrylic paint (I used Lumiere, but you can use regular acrylic paint diluted with water) onto the bumpy fusible side. You want enough water that the paint will run and create wonderful ripples, like this:
If you don't use enough water, your paint is too solid, it will be opaque, and none of your fabric will show through.
Let it dry completely. Then cut it in any shape you wish. Place the pieces painted side down (paper side up) on your fabric. I used black for drama. Place a piece of baking parchment paper on top to protect your iron, then iron it down. Allow it to cool, then peel off the paper. So fun!
This surface is fragile, and only works for art quilts and not anything that will be washed. And you can't iron it afterward, or your iron will stick to the fusible surface.
I tried this earlier with Heat-n-Bond Lite, and it leaves more of a plastic-y surface over the paint. It looked as if it had been laminated. Other fusible products may yield different results. I wonder what would happen if I sprinkled some bits of Angelina in when the paint was wet? Would the fusible web bond it to the fabric surface, too? Maybe I'll try that later...
What am I going to do with this now? I have an idea in my head, but need time to execute it. Come back later and find out!
Here's a detail shot, showing the fusible web on the fabric after I removed the paper backing:
UPDATE: Here's some of the quilting I have started today (Jan. 25):
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