Monday, December 21, 2015

Falling

Falling
66" x 64"
The photo above shows the design of all the elements, but unfortunately did not capture the texture from the quilting at all.  I am frustrated by how hard it is to take a good photo of a mostly white quilt.  So many photo sessions!! Argh!  I tried outside.  I tried inside, with photo lights, with the flash, without any lighting.  I tried using my old Nikon and my new Canon.  I tried many, many fixes on Photoshop to make the photo look like the actual quilt.  Many times I got all the colors right, except the green kept getting distorted.  In photo terms, it is called, "What you see is what you get".  This is supposed to work using the RAW mode.  Mine did not.  And I also shoot with a grey card from MacBeth (which I can never remember the correct name).  Meanwhile, it is very obvious when shooting a white quilt when you get the lighting wrong.  This one was close to the best I could do.  I am so grateful that the detail shots are so much easier.  The photo below looks like the quilt.  I love the way the quilting lines show every tiny little ripple. 
And despite my ranting, I am so happy to tell you that this quilt was juried into QuiltCon 2016!!  I am very pleased that it will get a public audience, one that is in person, because of the afore mentioned problems with my photographs of this quilt.  It will definitely look better in person!

You can read more about how I made it on a previous post from last March, here. As for the personal meaning for me?  I was nearing the end of a long period of grieving and wondering if I should stop quilting.  I had decided to sew up all the fabric I had into quilts (the Stashbuster project), and then quit.  Or maybe quit?  I didn't know where I was going.  I felt lost.  I also felt like I was over the hill, falling.  The metaphor of these beads falling off a string, not knowing where they were going to land fit me perfectly!

And, if you have been following my blog, it will be obvious that I haven't quit yet.  I am still working on the Stashbusters, on and off, but my muse has started singing to me again and I am working. Happily working.  And last, I would like to share with you a funny picture of my cat that I previously posted on Instagram.  The cats are supposed to stay off my quilts.  This kitten hasn't learned that yet.




6 comments:

Unknown said...

Really like your quilt and congrats on QuiltCon 2016!

Barbara said...

I love your kitty christening of the quilt! Pretty colors too.

Sharon Siacci said...

Congratulations on this lovely quilt being juried into Quiltcon 2016. It is a beaut.

Unknown said...

Many congratulations Kathy! re photographs - what about lighting from the side only?

Kathy York said...

Sharon, many thanks!
Amanda, I tried lighting from the side. It makes the quilting look pretty good, but the close side looks very bright and the far side looks too dark. I usually light a quilt evenly (from the front), and then put an extra light on the side to show the quilting, and it usually works well on my other quilts....it's just more obviously uneven on the white background. I should probably keep trying, there is something to learn here!

Rebecca said...

I'm glad your muse is singing to you, as I have discovered you only recently but really enjoy your work.