Point, Click, Quilt!: Turn Your Photos into Fabulous Fabric Art

By Susan Brubaker Knapp

“[A] gem . . . [Susan] provides a wealth of tips and examples for composing great photographs that have potential to make for lovely quilts.” —Piece, Love & Happiness!

Fiber artist and designer Susan Brubaker Knapp teaches quilters how to compose and shoot dynamic digital photos from a quilter’s perspective. With fun, creative workshop-like exercises in art quilting, you’ll learn how to turn those photos into small art quilts, both realistic and abstract, combining traditional fabrics with innovative materials. Every quilter can succeed with Susan’s achievable designs and accessible techniques.

• 16 artful appliqué projects inspired by digital photographs
• Learn how to shoot better photos and turn them into art quilt designs
• Boost your creativity with new tools and techniques
• Use unique materials to achieve your vision, including Tyvek, foils, paints, and more

“Shows how a photo can be a starting point for something truly artful . . . The focus is on creating good design, not on simply recreating a scene . . .  anyone who ever made a piece inspired by a favorite photo can learn something from this beautiful book.” —And Sew It Goes . . .

“I sat down and went through each page and gobbled it right up . . . Susan shares how to take great photos for translation into an art quilt.” —IHAN (I Have a Notion)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jul 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781607052296

Book preview

Text and Photography copyright © 2011 by Susan Brubaker Knapp

Photography and Artwork copyright © 2011 by C&T Publishing, Inc.

Publisher: Amy Marson

Creative Director: Gailen Runge

Acquisitions Editor: Susanne Woods

Editor: Liz Aneloski

Technical Editor: Nanette S. Zeller

Copyeditor/Proofreader: Wordfirm Inc.

Cover Designer: Kristen Yenche

Book Designer: Christina D. Jarumay

Production Coordinator: Zinnia Heinzmann

Production Editor: Julia Cianci

Illustrator: Tim Manibusan

Quilt Photography by Christina Carty-Francis and Diane Pedersen of C&T Publishing, Inc., and how-to and inspirational photography by Susan Brubaker Knapp, unless otherwise noted

Published by C&T Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be used in any form or reproduced by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems—without written permission from the publisher. The copyrights on individual artworks are retained by the artists as noted in Point, Click, Quilt! Turn Your Photos into Fabulous Fabric Art. These designs may be used to make items only for personal use or donation to nonprofit groups for sale or for display only at events, provided the following credit is included on a conspicuous label: Designs copyright © 2011 by Susan Brubaker Knapp from the book Point, Click, Quilt! Turn Your Photos into Fabulous Fabric Art from C&T Publishing, Inc. Permission for all other purposes must be requested in writing from C&T Publishing, Inc.

Attention Copy Shops: Please note the following exception— publisher and author give permission to photocopy pages 38, 41, 44, 47, 50, 53, 56, 60, 64, 68, 74, 79, 87, 91, 94, and 97 for personal use only.

Attention Teachers: C&T Publishing, Inc., encourages you to use this book as a text for teaching. Contact us at 800-284-1114 or www.ctpub.com for lesson plans and information about the C&T Creative Troupe.

We take great care to ensure that the information included in our products is accurate and presented in good faith, but no warranty is provided nor are results guaranteed. Having no control over the choices of materials or procedures used, neither the author nor C&T Publishing, Inc., shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book. For your convenience, we post an up-to-date listing of corrections on our website (www.ctpub.com). If a correction is not already noted, please contact our customer service department at [e-mail] or at P.O. Box 1456, Lafayette, CA 94549.

Trademark (™) and registered trademark (®) names are used throughout this book. Rather than use the symbols with every occurrence of a trademark or registered trademark name, we are using the names only in the editorial fashion and to the benefit of the owner, with no intention of infringement.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Knapp, Susan Brubaker.

Point, click, quilt! : turn your photos into fabulous fabric art 16 projects : fusible appliqué, thread sketching & more / Susan Brubaker Knapp.

     p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-60705-226-5 (softcover)

1. Quilting--Patterns. 2. Transfer-printing. 3. Drawing from photographs. I. Title.

TT835.K563 2011

746.46--dc22

               2010046183

Printed in China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

DEDICATION

To my daughters, Lea and Julia, who are always teaching me how to see—and to my mother, Eleanor Carter Brubaker (1936–2011)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many thanks to…

my supportive husband, Rob,

the entire creative team at C&T Publishing,

and my friends in the Pandoras, Fiber Art Options, and Lake Norman Quilters.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CREATIVITY AND LEARNING TO SEE

How to Shoot Great Photos That Will Make Great Quilts

Design and Composition Basics

From Photo to Quilt

Developing an Image Bank

Copyright Issues

ON A MISSION: PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISES TO BUILD YOUR SKILLS

MISSION NO. 1

Shoot for line, color, shape/form, light/shadow, reflection, texture/pattern, or angle

MISSION NO. 2:

Shoot a mundane location

MISSION NO. 3:

Pick ten subjects and shoot each one using a long shot, a medium shot, and a close-up

MISSION NO. 4:

Pick a subject and shoot as many examples of it as you can, aiming for diversity in a similarly composed shot

MISSION NO. 5:

Shoot in black and white

GETTING STARTED

Supplies

Basic Instructions

REALISTIC PROJECTS

Agave Grande

Indian Corn

Rusty Chevys

Papillon

Exotic Beauties

Pink Coneflowers

Parrot Peek-a-Boo

Green Barn

African Beads

Gourds

Snow Shadows

Spiderweb

FROM REALISM TO ABSTRACTION

What Is Abstraction

Ways to Achieve Abstraction

ABSTRACTION PROJECTS

Blue Feathers

Cylindrical

Buttons

Detritus

FINISHING UP

Thread Sketching

Quilting

GALLERY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SUPPLIES AND RESOURCES

INTRODUCTION

While I have always enjoyed taking photos, it took me a while to realize how much photography could be a part of my artistic process. Like much of what I do now for a living, I have never studied it in a classroom. My brother and parents shared a darkroom space in our back basement when I was a teenager, but I completely ignored it. My first real desire to take better photos began about a decade ago when I had my first child and wanted to take shots to capture the wonder of those first amazing days.

Several years ago, I started taking photographs in a more deliberate way. I began thinking about photography almost as a form of meditation or deep study of what was. When you take photography seriously, it forces you to be in the moment, and an hour or two spent shooting in a garden, on a city street, or on a mountain hike can leave you serene and perfectly centered, and at the same time bursting with creative energy.

Perhaps you already enjoy taking photos, or have at least taken snapshots of vacations or special occasions. If so, this book is a guide to thinking about photography in a different way, as a way of truly learning to see and appreciate what is around you and to record it in a meaningful way. The kinds of subjects you find most interesting will teach you much about what you enjoy, what attracts you, and what you want to communicate through your work. And the shots you take will provide you with a deep well of ideas and images you can use.

The first chapters of this book include concrete information about how to take better photos, based on the elements of art and basic design principles. They include specific suggestions and tips and a series of missions you can do on your own or with friends that will start you down the path of learning to see with an artist’s eye. You don’t need a lot of materials or equipment, just an inexpensive digital camera and the desire to try looking at the world in a different way.

This book does not include projects that deal with the human face or form, which are the subject of other excellent books specifically on the subject. The projects here, based on my photos, are a great way to learn new techniques. Some are realistic subjects, some explore the process of abstraction, and some use materials that may be new to you. Try a few of my projects and then go out and take photos for projects you can make completely your own.

Creativity involves not only imagining great new things, but acting on that imagining. It is a process of considering new possibilities, combinations, connections, or alternatives and then using those ideas to solve a problem or to communicate an idea or value. For the visual artist, creativity begins with what I call learning to see.

The difference between looking and seeing is akin to the difference between existing and living. Looking is passive, but when you see, you form an