C&T Publishing Blog

Quilting Tips: Printing Images on Fabric

November 16th, 2009 in Quilting Tips Series
By Sandy Peterson

Now that digital cameras are so easy to purchase and use, and the computer software has become so user-friendly, the ability to print your digital images on fabrics is just too good to pass up. Welcome to the 21^st century!

Your own photos are the best source of images to print on fabric.

Crop to the good part of your photo. (No kittens were harmed.)

When printing on fabric, make a test print on paper first so you don’t waste ink or fabric sheets. Use a black and white version to help with placement or size of the finished print. When you are happy with that, then make a color print on paper. Use the Draft or Fast option to save on ink and get a feel for what the finished print will look like. When everything feels like it is working, then make your final print on fabric sheets.

This tip comes from the book Innovative Fabric Imagery for Quilts by Cyndy Lyle Rymer and Lynn Koolish.

Happy Printing,

The Tech Editors

This article is part of the Quilting Tips from the Tech Editors tutorial series. Recent tutorials include:

The “Chip Away” Mentality

October 28th, 2009 in Inspiration
By Sandy Peterson

Ever since I went back to work 2 years ago after a 14-year hiatus, I have realized that there just aren’t enough hours in a day to get everything done that I would like. So, I have to prioritize my values and tasks.

It is clear to me that mounds of dog hair floating and bouncing on my hardwood floors is no big deal, I would rather take the time available and spend it with my kids and with my sewing. I have also realized that I don’t have the luxury of hours of free time to spend sewing away on my trusty machine – I have to grab 10 minutes when I can and not get discouraged that a project seems to take forever to finish.

With this “chip away” mentality established, I decided, in September 2008, to start a Halloween wall hanging. I love the projects in Liz Aneloski’s book Simple Fabric Folding for Halloween and went for the haunted house with the interesting 3-D folded windows and doors. Well, here it is, October 2009, and you can see that I have it done. (It was a very busy year with kids going everywhere!)

Another reason it took me so long to finish was that I needed some confetti/doodads to embellish the quilt, and they are seasonal.

Next, I am going to continue working on the world’s heaviest tree skirt. Who knows if it will be ready for Christmas 2009? I’ll get to the end of this project when it happens.

Best wishes,

Sandy Peterson

My First Encounter with Photo Editing Software

September 2nd, 2009 in Staff Pick
By Sandy Peterson

I have always wanted to learn how to use photo-editing software given that my picture-taking skills could use some help. Plus, I have some vintage photos of various loved relatives and it would mean a lot to me to clean them up and make copies for my kids and my brothers and sister. Well, one of the best things about working at C&T is the variety of artistic techniques in our books that I get to be involved with daily. Lucky for me, I had the chance to work on a book that uses Photoshop Elements software. The timing was perfect.

A basic newbie guide to the software is provided in Lynn Koolish’s DVD: Lynn Koolish Teaches You Printing on Fabric. (We also have a freebie pdf that you can download here.) In addition to the wonderful directions to print on fabric, there is an attached PDF that helped me to make sense of the opening window of Photoshop Elements. It showed me how to open files and perform basic operations and there was an easy before and after comparison so I could see exactly how my computer modified the images. It helped me create some order out of what seemed to be chaos. After that, I was ready to tackle the manuscript.

Wait until you see this upcoming book by Charlotte Ziebarth, Artistic Photo Quilts. She is a quilt artist who takes her original photos and manipulates them with the easy changes to color and sizing, etc. She then shows you many ways to use the embedded filters and methods to combine photos to create magnificent images. Her products are usually printed on fabric and combined to make beautiful, artistic quilts. The photography in the book is wonderful and inspirational. She has convinced me to carry a camera with me at all times so I don’t miss special scenes, as well as the run-of-the-mill ones.

Playing around with Photoshop Elements

The “Layers” feature of this software program is SO powerful and, with a little help from Charlotte, easy to use. I was able, in a trial run, to take a photo of the hills of Tennessee plus downsize and capture a picture of my daughter in her prom dress, and then add her to the hills background, plus add my soccer son’s picture, plus rotate and add a shot of my dog and then combine these all into 1 image. I added in her boyfriend, too. Then I heightened the color by adding a translucent blue layer on top, I sharpened the images and I added a slight textured pattern over the whole thing for fun. Yes, it was unusual, and I see not particularly artistic or good looking, but I did it because I could. The power of Layers is addicting. I then used a sketch filter to get a whole different look…you get the picture. Total enjoyment.

Whether you print the images on fabric or on paper for your photo albums, the book will be a huge help. Just jump in and go for it.

Over-the-Top Totes

July 7th, 2009 in Staff Pick
By Sandy Peterson

Anita G. Solomon has a favorite addage: sew on Federal holidays. Sew I did, and I was able to finish my tote bag. The tote bag that took 100’s of hours and lots of money to get “just right”.

I have a real soft spot in my heart for Baltimore Album quilts. When Ellie Sienkiewicz started writing her series of books on these quilts, I bought all of them and have made about 15 blocks so far, over 15 years. The problem is, I don’t bring the blocks with me when out and about because I am always worried about getting them dirty and losing pieces. All those hours spent on soccer sidelines and dentist offices wasted. Then I saw the book 101 Fabulous Fat-Quarter Bags, by M’Liss Rae Hawley and realized that a custom-sized tote would solve the problem.

She has terrific ideas for 10 different types of totes in this book. I started with the instructions for the Fat-Quarter Carryall, modified the dimensions so a pillow, a block in a protective cover and the stitching tools would fit comfortably inside. There was a lot of denim left over from another project and I was itching to try more machine embroidery, so it all came together for me this weekend.

Front

Back

M’Liss recommends auditioning handles for the totes, and the current black ones shown aren’t quite right. Maybe they can be covered with more of the blue denim. Something will feel right to me in a few days and I can replace them. At any rate, I’m ready for appliqué action when I’m sitting at the next soccer game.

Making Wearables…Civil War Style

January 22nd, 2009 in Behind the Scenes
By Sandy Peterson

I was working on the World’s Heaviest Tree Skirt recently, when my son presented me with an alternate project. He is reading the book Killer Angels in English, and his group needs to re-enact the battle of Gettysburg from the Civil War. With props. And costumes. Son Mark is in charge of the army costumes. This type of thing used to strike terror in my heart, before I started working here at C&T and became inspired by the creativity around me.

Union Soldier