I had another photo from Norway that I was sure I could turn into a small fabric image using a type of layered applique technique I learned in a class taught by someone in my guild. The image is fairly simple – a road, some rocks in the foreground, and some mountains in the background. I easily found fabrics that mimicked the colors in the image, and I set out to recreate it. I love the photograph. The fabric version is BOOORING.
It turns out that the texture in the image was what made it interesting. Take away that specific texture and replace it with a generic texture, and the image loses its impact. So as I look through my pictures to see which ones might end up as cool quilts, I have a lot to think about.
Each of the three types of categories of quilts I can create needs a different quality of image.
Interesting images that I would have no hope of recreating with fabric can go one of three ways:
- Is there an interesting element to it? If yes, then I might print the image out on fabric. Unlike the Crater Lake quilt, though, I want to be able to do something interesting to it once it’s printed out. I don’t simply want an image printed on fabric with standard fabric borders. I’m currently waiting on two pictures that Spoonflower has printed to arrive in the mail. I have two very different ideas for what I’m going to do with those two pictures. But I knew that I would have no hope of recreating those two photos to my satisfaction without printing them out on fabric.
- Are there layers to the image? If so, that might be a good candidate for the layered applique technique I learned earlier this year. I can tell right now, though, that there won’t be many of these. First, I’m not a huge fan of applique. Second, this technique is relatively easy to do, but as I illustrated above, it’s a very specific photograph that will withstand this treatment. I’m honestly not sure I have very many photos that will suffice.
- Are there lots of colors, or is the image something I like but that would be boring using either of the methods above? If so, it might benefit from the abstract treatment. The first quilt I’ve worked on, in fact, is one of these, and I have another one in my head that I’ll start trying to find fabrics for soon.
I’m still looking through the images I have to find ones that I think would translate well to quilts. I’ve considered and rejected many images so far. I keep having to remind myself of what I am looking for when I look through my pictures. I look at the pictures one way when I’m trying to decide which ones I like in general, but I have to reframe how I look at them when I’m evaluating whether or not they’d make good quilts.