Adventures in quilt photography Part 1

How do you feel about quilt photography?  I have a love-hate relationship with it.  When my pictures turn out, I feel pretty enthusiastic about it.  When I can't seem to make the quilt look as good in the picture as it does in person,  my enthusiasm fades.  

Getting good photographs is rather important to market my patterns, so I have some incentive to work on my quilt photography skills.  With seven patterns to usher out into the world this week, I got some practice in over the last couple of weeks.  Despite buying studio lights and a tripod to use indoors, I struggle with taking good, evenly lit photos with accurate color, so I headed outside.  

Polarized by Canuck Quilter Designs

This was one of my successes last week. Can you believe how well the blue sky and water and that touch of greenery on the far shore match the quilt?  I took a small detour on my way to dropping my husband off at work and pressed him into service as quilt holder.  He was a good sport.  I'm sure his arms were tired by the time I got this shot, because a slight breeze was blowing and we had to wait for the quilt to drop flat between little gusts, and of course exactly as I pressed the shutter there came the breeze again.

This was actually Day 2 of the quilt photo shoot.  The day before we went out to a different park with an armful of quilts, planning to try flat shots for the covers, and styled shots because they're pretty.  I knew it was hot outside, but I didn't realize just how hot until I was walking through the park with a stack of quilts, with sweat stinging my eyes.  My enthusiasm took a nosedive, but my husband convinced me to try at least one flat shot of each quilt, because the pattern release deadline was looming and I had no pattern covers.

This is the best we managed for Polarized.  It looks pretty dingy and yellow, and my limited Photoshop skills could not rescue it.  I was so miserable while taking this miserable photo.  Thank goodness for a good night's sleep, slightly cooler temperatures and an accommodating quilt holder. The next morning I got a great picture in less than 10 minutes without risking heat exhaustion. 

We did have some success with other quilts on Day 1, after coming to grips with the idea of stepping out of the cooler shade.

Glacial by Canuck Quilter Designs

Modern Lace by Canuck Quilter Designs

Stellar Stacks by Canuck Quilter Designs

Here's a peek at how I made the quilts hang mostly straight.

Pieced back of Polarized

I pinned hanging sleeves to the back of the quilt on both the top and bottom, and inserted a rod in each.  The top rod keeps the top edge of the quilt straight, and gives the quilt holder something other than the corners of the quilt to grip.  The bottom rod weighs down the quilt so it doesn't ripple and sway and flap around as much, and keeps that edge straight as well.  You could use any straight rod or dowel, but I bought two adjustable Hang-It Dang-It rods to use so I can easily adjust the length to fit whichever quilt I'm photographing.

The other important part of these photos is aiming the camera at the exact center of the quilt, and keeping the camera perfectly level.  If the camera is angled at all, there will be a "keystone" effect, where the quilt will appear narrower at one end than the other.  I'm getting pretty good at shooting straight, but I admit to using some editing software to square up the photo if it looks crooked on the pattern cover.

I used the sleeves and rods for this updated photo of Ripples Cubed as well.

You can see the quilt hangs much better than in my original "hold it by the corners" picture:

Besides the flat shots for the pattern cover, which are not optional, I like to have a few prettily styled, photos as well.  I didn't attempt those until the outside temperature was less oppressive, and I haven't finished sorting through them yet.  I'll share some of those photos soon.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear about your own quilt photography challenges and successes, and any tips and tricks.

Patterns for the quilts above are now available as PDF downloads in my Etsy shop, or ask your favourite quilt shop to order print copies.

Focus Squared

 I remember a conversation I had with someone early in my journey as a quilt designer.  When she suggested I should try partnering with fabric companies, I couldn't fathom how to do that. I had always designed first, then looked for fabric that would work well with the design.  I was convinced I couldn't be inspired by fabric first.

Guess what?  I was wrong.  Maybe seeing so many different fabrics on a regular basis while working at the local quilt shop for five years had something to do with it.  In the past few years I have begun working with fabric companies to cross-promote their fabric and my patterns. Those collaborations usually begin with a call for design submissions accompanied by digital fabric swatches of upcoming fabric lines.  Sometimes I have an existing pattern that would work, but often it's fun to start fresh and just play with those swatches.

That's how Focus Squared came to be.

My pattern cover quilt is actually the sample I made to test the pattern I wrote to showcase a particular fabric in Connecting Threads' new Garden Gems collection, but as the actual fabric was not available before the pattern was due I selected alternate fabrics at my local shop.  Having to use alternate fabrics for the test also reassured me that the design is not completely dependent on the fabric I designed with.  I really want my patterns to be useful beyond a single fabric collection!

Here's a better view of the design.

Here's how the design looked when I submitted it to Connecting Threads for consideration.  My intention was to really showcase one bold print, the kind you don't want to cut up too small. 

I think the staff at Connecting Threads may have had a color scheme in mind to fit in with the rest of the quilts in the catalog spread.  While the design caught their eye, they asked me to recolor it with different coordinating fabrics.

It uses the same floral, but the alternate coordinating fabrics give it a much different feel.  This is the version the company prepared as kits, available now on the Connecting Thread website.

Lynn (@momofpeaches) kindly offered to test this pattern.  She had a print she had been hoarding for a while, and chose to showcase it in her test quilt, using colors in the print to choose the other fabrics..

I really think this design works well to showcase a favourite print.  It isn't limited to floral print.  I'm still very tempted by a Christmas version using Timber Gnomies by Shelly Comiskey from Henry Glass  fabrics.  I may never get to it (so many ideas, so little time!) but if you do I'd love to see a picture.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures of my sample Focus Squared, because, well, it's blue!  Need I say more?

The Focus Squared pattern is available as a PDF download in my Etsy shop.  For a print version, ask your favourite quilt shop to order the pattern for you.

Quilter on Fire podcast episode

Have you discovered the Quilter On Fire podcast yet?  It has become my favourite thing to listen to while I cut fabric. I cut slowly, so I've had plenty of time to binge-listen to diverse quilters sharing their quilting stories as they chat with Brandy Maslowski, the podcast host.  It's always entertaining, and I always look forward to the next episode.

That's why I was thrilled when Brandy invited me to be a guest on the podcast.  I enjoyed chatting with her back in June, and the episode went live yesterday! 

I spilled about how I started quilting and designing and what I'm planning for Canuck Quilter in the next few months.  There's a bit about a Star Trek uniform in there as well.  If you haven't heard that story, you'll have to go listen to the podcast.  If you have heard the story, I hope you'll listen anyway.  There's a huge Canuck Quilter pattern giveaway to sweeten the deal!  I sent patterns to Brandy to do with as she pleased and she chose to offer them as a giveaway prize. You can enter that here.

While you go listen, I'll be in my sewing room binding a stack of quilts.  I filmed a little sneak peek video of the unbound quilts to share with you, but I haven't figured out how to get them from the camera to the computer.  Until I sort that out, I'll leave you with a photo of the stack.

Happy quilting,

Joanne