Sunday, March 25, 2012

The Making of Jack- The Pattern

  The pattern for Jack was made very much in the same way you would make any applique pattern. To make an applique pattern you have to flip the picture before you trace the pattern onto fusible web.


Here is a link that explains making applique patterns using fusible web:Fusible Web Products and How to Use Them




The easy thing to do is to flip your picture horizontally in a Photoshop program.  If you don’t have a photo shop program then you can bring it into a Microsoft Word program using the picture tools to flip it.  Also, you  can make your picture larger or smaller before you print it.  Before you begin to flip or move your your picture in Microsoft Word make sure you format your picture.  I usually choose in front of text.  If you don't format the picture first, you will find it harder to manipulate the picture within the Microsoft Word document.
 
Here are  two links to help you invert/flip your pictures:
  

Of course, I can't do it the easy way; maybe someday my brain will allow it.  I printed the picture as I wanted it to look in the finished product. 




Then, I   placed the tracing paper over the picture . 
Next, the challenging part began; choosing the major shapes that would make Jack.



After I drew the shapes, I numbered them according to the fabric that would be chosen for that shape.  For Jack, I choose black and white, then five gradient shades of gray.   I placed my fabric beside my tracing of Jack beginning with the black material, shades of gray from the darkest to the lightest, to white.  I numbered the shades of gray; 1 being the darkest shade to 5 being the lightest shade.


I turned the tracing of Jack over and traced it onto the fusible web.  I used Pellon Wonder-Under®, because I found it easy to use a pencil to trace and erase the shapes on the backing.   As a novice, I did a lot of erasing.   Before, I began to applique, I found it helpful to trace the outline of Jack and some of the major white and light gray shapes on the background material to help with the placement of the fabric shapes.


Here is a link for Pellon products:  Pellon Fusible Webs & Adhesives

I preferred  to keep my edges raw; I just liked the look without stitching on the edges.  I used the free motion stippling stitch as a filler for my quilt because I wanted to keep the attention on the applique of Jack and not on the stitches.

Here is a link for a free tutorial on free motion stippling: Free Motion Quilting: Stippling and MicroStippling



Looking a Jack with a critical eye, I wished I had put some shading in the areas of where the bottoms of the pillows meet the background and where Jack's legs meet the background.   The shadows would have given his portrait a little more dimension.  Also, I wonder, if I should have done more with the background.  Maybe, making the bottom third a darker shade of blue.  I wanted a simple background, but I think I shouldn't have made  it so plain.




    Sunday, March 18, 2012

    The Making of Jack - The Picture


    While  dogsitting my son's dog, Jack,  he decided to take a nap on my settee in our living room.   He looked so royal and elegant in his pose that I decided to take his picture.  I posted the picture on Facebook and received some interesting responses.  The best one was from my son, “What the devil, you never let us sit on that piece of furniture.”  Well, that reaction inspired me to try my hand at art quilting.   I just had to make that picture into a wall hanging to give my son for Christmas.



    First step: I threw the picture into Photoshop and manipulated it.  First I converted the picture to black and white, so I could better see the shapes and shades of gray.  .




    Next, I posterized it to produce hard lines.    Here is a link to a free tutorial that uses a dog as its demonstration sample Adobe Archive Posterize Tutorial . 


    I wanted to see less contrast so I slid the bar to 9.  I printed all 4 pictures so that I could see the shapes and colors from different perspectives.  I enlarged the last picture and printed it as an 11 X 14, so I could use it as my pattern.




    Sunday, March 11, 2012

    Photo Inpiration

    I take pictures; lots of pictures.  That is the greatest thing about digital cameras.  I am motivated to combine my sewing and photography.  I like to manipulate my photos, print, and display them.  I try to choose photos that are crisp in color and have sharp lines and edges.
    This picture of Lyla was taken in natural light at a lake and you can really see the tron contrasts in her face. It will make it easier to select the larger shapes to make the pattern.

    This picture collage was printed onto white material and sewn onto a wallhanging I am currently working on.

    This past summer, we drove to Yellowstone National Park.  I used Publishers.com to make a book of our trip, but I also wanted to display some of the pictures as a wallhanging.  The material I used for the background was bought in a small quilt store in Taos, NM.

    Saturday, March 3, 2012

    Inspiration for "Scrapbook Quilts"

    I get most of my inspiration from surfing on the internet looking at sites of quilt artists.  I just type in the words quilt artist and away I go into another world outside of my everyday life.

     Also, I Google scrapbook layout designs to get ideas for designing my backgrounds for my “photograph” or “memory” quilts.    I keep my sketchbook/journal at my fingertips to jot down designs, ideas and elements that I find interesting and might possibly use someday in a future quilt.
    As I study the scrapbook pages on the internet, I make a quick sketch in my journal with notes about color placement, possible embellishments, and picture placements.


    Bottom left design is the one I used for the quilt


















    I find coming up with new ideas on my own isn't always easy and I need to look at other people's work for inspiration. The idea for the background material layout for my "Were  we really there?"quilt  came from a scrapbook layout either on the internet or from looking at a friend's scrapbook. 

    Looking again at this quilt critically, it does keep my eye moving around around the composition.   There is a feeling of a circular motion with the repeated rectangular shapes of the pictures,  but it lacks a real focal point.  There is not an element in the quilt that stands out  from the rest of the piece in value, color or size.

     I tried to place emphasis on the picture of the four of us, but I don't think it has the needed contrast to make it a focal point.  I'm not real sure what to add or if there is anything I can do at this point to make it the focal point. 

    But then, looking at the quilt again, maybe the focal point isn't one of the pictures as I had planned.  The word Prague jumps out, maybe that is the focal point of the quilt, even thought it was planned that way.

    I find it helpful to look at my quilts with a critical eye to hopefully improve on the next quilt I make.

    I do not limit my sources of inspiration to the internet.  I go to quilt shows; take pictures; and of course search through books and magazines.