HOME DECOR DIY: Rainbow Inspiration Quote Banner Wall Hanging

This banner wall hanging uses a rainbow themed inspiration quote and color palette. I made this artwork as a present for two friends who are expecting their 1st child this year. Before I knew the baby's gender, I decided all its handmade presents would be rainbow themed. I was thinking of making this banner cloud shaped, but I prefer artwork that isn't nursery themed and can grow with a child. Of course you can chose any short quote and color palette. This project uses Fairfield World Stick Double Sided Fusible Interfacing to attach the letters and Stiffen Double Sided Fusible Interfacing to add stability to the banner.

Fairfield World provided me with their products and paid me to create this project. All photos, instructions, and opinions are my own. I use Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made using these links will result in Amazon paying me a small commision. 
Dritz provided me with their pressing cloth to use on projects. It's really nice and tolerates my fusible interfacings and sticky iron...oh poor iron.
If you don't have a Silhouette Cameo, you'll need these tools.
1) Using a quilting ruler and pencil, draft a 12.25" by 12.25" square on the cotton fabric. Using scissors, cut out the square.

2) Cut out a piece of Stick interfacing to fit the cotton square. Rip off two piece of parchment paper bigger than the cotton square. Set the iron to cotton with the steam off. Lay 1 piece of parchment paper on the ironing board. Lay the Stick square on the parchment paper. Lay the cotton square on top of the Stick. Lay the 2nd piece of parchment paper on the cotton square. Iron on top of the 2nd layer of parchment paper, to fuse the Stick and cotton squares together without damaging the ironing board or iron. Let the fused fabric cool. Peel off the top layer of parchment paper. Leave the bottom piece on for the next step.

3) Squeeze a little of each paint color, except the white and platinum, on the paper plate. Using the fabric paints and a flat paint brush, paint patches of color. Blend the edges to soften the color transitions. Rinse the paintbrush between colors with water. You can make your patches big or small. Smaller patches will show more when the fabric is cut for words. I went for medium size, mostly to make my painting process faster, but also to make the color transitions softer in each word. Let the fabric fully dry before handling it again. When it's dry, peel it off the parchment paper.

4) On your computer, if you don't already have the October Twilight Font, you need to download and install it. Otherwise pick a font you like that is big with letters touching. Open the Silhouette Studio program. If you want to use the October Twilight font exactly like I used, I've done all the editing work for you. You just need to download the You Can't Have A Rainbow Without Rain cut file and open it in Silhouette Studio.

If you want to use a different font, click the A (text) icon. Select the font of your choosing. Type in "You Can't Have A Rainbow Without Rain". Arrange the words on grid, so they fit well. They all need to be horizontal, but don't have to be in the correct order. Resize the text to maximize space. I made the word "Rainbow" the largest. That's the easy part. If you're using a script font, you'll notice your cut lines might overlap at certain points. You'll need to edit these overlapping lines, so the cut lines are fluid. Ungroup your words. Use the Eraser, Knife, and Edit Points tools to edit the lines. Regroup your words when complete. Save your file for future use. Take your time with editing, so the cut lines are all correct.

If you don't have a Silhouette Cameo, print out this text image file shown below. Print 2, just in case you make a mistake on the 1st one. I'll get to how to use this later.


5) Turn the Silhouette Cameo on and attach it to your computer (by usb cable or wirelessly, depending on the version). Center the fabric on the clean cutting mat and smooth into place so the air bubbles are tiny to none. Load the cutting mat into the Silhouette Cameo. In Silhouette Studio select "Fabric Thick fabric like canvas" in the cutting settings. If you have an older Silhouette Cameo, set the blade length to 5. The new version auto sets the blade length which is a cool feature. Send the cut file to the Silhouette Cameo machine. The cutting will take a few minutes. When it's complete, unload the cutting mat. Peel the text off the cutting mat. I had to use scissors to separate the leftover/negative fabric from the letters in some places. Don't forget the "i" dots and the apostrophe. Set the letter and punctuation pieces aside on a clean plate.

If you don't have a Silhouette Cameo, pin the printed this text image file to the painted fabric. Lay the fabric on a self healing cutting mat. Use a craft knife to carefully cut out the text. I used to hand cut a lot of project. The hand pain was too much for tedious project, so I bought a Silhouette Cameo.

6) From white fabric, draft and cut out a banner shape that is 14" at top, 13" on each side, and comes to a centered point 5" down from each side (9" diagonals). Trace and cut out the banner shape from white cotton fabric and Stiffen Interfacing.  From white fabric, draft and cut out a 6.5" by 3" rectangle. Trim the Stiffen banner shape down 1/2" on all sides.

7) Load the sewing machine with white thread. Line up the cotton banner pieces. Stitch around all sides 1/2" from the edge, leaving a 6" centered gap at the top. Trim the corners, making sure not the cut through the stitching.

8) Turn the banner inside out. Use a pointed skinny object (ie: chopstick) to shape the corners. Turn the iron to cotton with steam. Iron the banner flat, so all the side seams are neat. The gap edges should be folded in evenly with the sewn seam.

9) Roll up the Stiffen banner and slip it inside the cotton banner opening. Shift the Stiffen banner around until it fits snuggly and smoothly inside the cotton banner. Push all the seam fabric towards the back. If you can't do this with your fingers, use the chopstick.

10) Line up the small rectangle edges. Sew the two long side together 1/2" from the edge. Turn the tube inside out. Shape the seam, so it's to one side. Use the iron to flatten the tube into a rectangle. At the sewing machine, stitch down both long sides, 1/4" from the edges to keep them flat.

11) Lay out a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface. Pour a large amount of white fabric paint onto a paper plate. Add a little bit of turquoise paint to the white dollop. With a wide flat paintbrush, mix the colors together to make light blue. Paint the fronts of the banner and rectangle light blue. Let dry. Mix more light blue paint if needed. Flip the banner and rectangle over. Paint the backs light blue too. Rinse out the paintbrush with water. Let fully dry. The paint layer should be opaque, but thin.

12) Flip the banner back over to the front. Pour white fabric paint onto the paper plate. Add a little water to the paint and mix together. Using a round paint brush and the thinned white paint, create soft wispy cloud shapes on the banner front. Clean the paintbrush with water. Squeeze a little platinum paint onto the plate. Using the same paint brush to add silver shadows. Let the paint fully dry.

13) Center the rectangle at the banner top in a loop. Straight pin in place. Straight stitch around all the banner sides 1/4" from the edge, backstitching at the looped rectangle.

14) Move the banner and words over the ironing board. Lay out the text on the banner front without the little pieces. Cover the words carefully with the pressing cloth. Set the iron to wool with no steam. Iron slowly, through the pressing cloth, to fuse the letters to the banner without shifting them. Remove the pressing cloth. Add the little pieces for the "i" dots and apostrophe to the banner. Cover the banner with the pressing cloth. Fuse the little pieces in place through the pressing cloth. Remove the pressing cloth and check the letters for any loose section. Fuse any loose sections in place through the pressing cloth. Since this is a wall hanging, it won't get much handling or need washing. The letters don't need to be reinforced with sewing.

That's all for this tutorial. You can certainly experiment with different banner shapes and sizes. Straight lines and symmetry are your friends when choosing a banner shape. I used patches of color for the letters and a cloudy sky for the banner background. You could create designs...polka dots, stripes, swirls, splatter, etc. I like to show techniques to inspire your creativity. For a baby, I discourage adding any little decorations like buttons, sequins and gems. It's true what people say about babies, they put EVERYTHING in their mouth. They're like tiny fur babies would want to eat weird stuff...they just don't know better. Keep the babies safe and your project intact. Whatever you're making, have fun with it. Happy Makery!


  1. This is gorgeous! I never would've thought to paint on the interfacing!

    1. Thanks. To clarify, I painted on white cotton fabric. The cotton fabric letters are backed with Stick interfacing. The cloud banner has Stiffen Double Sided Fusible Interfacing in between the cotton fabric layers.


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