Quilt Photography

It looks like I'm a serious photographer here. It's the tripod and the lights. No -- it's me! I am serious about taking good photos of my quilts. Shoot that quilt is my favorite how-to site. They convinced me to get the lights and tripod. (Well, I already had the tripod. The lights came from eBay.) Because of this site, I'm waiting until dark to take my photos, for true color reproduction. And I just finished a photo course via QuiltUniversity. I didn't take full advantage of the instructor, who was always available for feedback, but I did learn some basics, including how to resize and organize my images, and also the importance of reading the camera manual. (Duh, why didn't I think of that?)

Quilt sleeve tutorial

The final details, like sewing the label and the hanging sleeve onto the back of the quilt, are less interesting than creating the piece itself. This woman knows her sleeves. I always follow her directions.  Before watching her, my quilt sleeves didn't have that extra "give." Made this way, the quilt will hang rather close to the wall.  It's a little harder, but better, to cut the sleeve into three pieces

River wrap-up

L-hook with bumper

The River quilt is hanging so that it looks like art -- I've got to pinch myself and when I do, I say, "You're pinching an artist!"

This is how George and Sue hung the piece:

1. They asked me to make the casing in 3 separate pieces, so I made two outside casings of about 7" each. I sewed them about 1" in from the sides and 1/2" from the top. The center casing takes up the rest, about 20".

2.They hung two L-hooks where the casings meet, 8" in from the edges. In addition to being out of sight, hooks placed this way offer more support to the center, to avoid possible sagging.

3. They put little black foam doughnuts, from the plumbing department, over the hooks. They ensure there's space between quilt and wall.

4. The quilt, with a flat board in the casing, rests on the hooks. It looks great. I'm going to re-hang all my quilts this way.

Here are some other things I learned while making this piece:

I followed Judy Perez' tutorial on how to make a faced binding. 

River inspiration.

Joan Mitchell painter: River and Sides of a River

Poetry

John O'Donahue, For the Pilgrim a Kiss: the Caha River

Music

XTC, River of Orchids

Myth

Lethe, River of Forgetfulness--Drink from it and forget earthly life

Bible:

Amos 5, 24. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness a never-failing stream!