I have not always followed this rule because most of the time the printed fabric outcome has not been critical to my final project. I tend to do more color manipulation of my pieces either before the quilting or after. My recommendation is that if the final color output is critical to your design, you take advantage of the test swatch option. It is money well spent as I will demonstrate.

The original piece I printed for this design was on cotton. I did some 'after Spoonflower' manipulation, but not an extensive amount. The below samples were printed on Poly Crepe de Chine and Silk Crepe de Chine. The design was created in Photoshop from my original photographs.

As you can see, there are two very different results and neither of them wrong, just different. The poly fabric is very true to color on the original design. The silk would have to have the saturation pumped up if I wanted the same results. The original cotton printed piece is closer in color to the silk. The poly is smooth, so the edges of the design are crisp. The silk has a sandy texture so the edges are softer. If you wanted a softer, more watercolor effect, the silk would definitely give you that result.

I am experimenting with my new #Chromecast and I am lovin' it. This is my new favorite techno geek hardware. The best thing about it is that I no longer have to watch videos on a small computer screen with less than perfect audio. My computer set up is not bad, but it is so much better to watch on a large screen television.

This morning I "cast" one of my Craftsy classes to the TV. It worked flawlessly. It was great to see all the details of what was being discussed without wanting to zoom in. I would highly recommend getting one of these for your viewing pleasure.

Here are the details:
I picked mine up at Costco. This was for a couple of reasons. One: Costco is close to my house; Two: It was packaged with an HDMI cable (not standard in other on-line packages); Three: If you get it now, Chromecast has 9 bonus offers, two of which give you cash credits for movies, etc. This brought my cost down to $10 for the actual unit.

It is easy (sort of) to set up. You will need WiFi in your home, an HDMI connector on your TV (it will be labeled as HDMI and is sort of a long skinny D shaped plug), a power outlet for the Chromecast and of course your router/internet information and password. You can power it by a USB port on the TV, but it is recommended to use the power cable that comes with it. 

There is good information on the Google site if you have problems. I had to go into my computer security settings and "allow" the Chromecast access. This was the only real issue that took a bit of figuring out. Your security settings may be different. 
Load the app on your phone, tablet or browser(s) and you can "cast" from any of them. Just too much fun.

So have you got some new geeky hardware that you love? Let me know and I will check it out.

David has been featured in Denver's WestWord on-line news blog.

We were very excited when we got the request for the interview and then when Kyle called, he spent 45 minutes on the phone with David. I read the article today and I was impressed with the thoroughness of the article.
I hope you enjoy the article.

http://blogs.westword.com/showandtell/2014/02/david_charity_quilts.php

A new (to us) machine is now on the market, the Sunshine 16. David has been looking for a few years for a machine that would make quilting our larger pieces easier. The issue: On a domestic machine with a standard size throat (7 to 9 inches) anything over 30 inches wide becomes a little cumbersome. Rolling and folding the quilt is the only way to get larger pieces quilted. Some drag is caused making smooth transitions in direction more difficult.

David tested out this machine at the Long Beach show. This is the vendors (Pennywinkle Valley Ranch) first west coast exhibit. They are from the mid-west and concentrate on shows closer to home.

David was very impressed with this machine. Not only does it sew very well, but the price point is very attractive for the basic model. David stitched out with metallic thread on a fast speed. The thread did not shred and the tension top and bottom was great. He likes the fact that your hands are on the table and not on handles. He feels he has more control and is comfortable with this hand position as it is the same as when working on a domestic machine. The acrylic table that comes with the machine works like a slip sheet so the quilt glides over the surface. The machine we tested was sitting on a card table. Yes, a card table with its little spindly card table legs. It was smooth, vibration free, and the table did not feel like it was in danger of collapse. There were several machines set up in the booth and each one had a different type thread on it from all different thread manufacturers. This tells me this is not a prima donna machine.

The machine is basic. It has no fancy features like automatic needle up/down. It has a governor for setting your maximum speed while you work. That enables you to set your preferred speed and always go pedal to the metal. There is a needle advance wheel that you can use to move the needle position. It is an industrial looking machine. No flowers, no fancy paint job. I personally like it. It looks like a great little work horse and I am sure that is what it is. Simple mechanics means it will be simple to maintain. A little oil and lint cleaning and it should last for years and years. It also means that getting any work done on it can probably be taken care of by a local shop or even the owner if of a techy ability. David inspected this machine quite a bit and was impressed with the quality.

The machine is built to order. At the time we looked at it there is about a two month wait. I see a possibility of this machine in our future.
The best thing about the machine we tested? The price. $1,750.00
This machine also comes in a 24 inch model. There are options to purchase handles, a table or frame.

Did you see this machine? Did you test it out? What did you think?

Update Aug, 2014: For those of you looking at this machine and hearing some positive or negative things about it, you must rely on your own personal makeup. I am a person who loves to figure things out. I am not afraid to adjust tension or other items. I loved the look of this machine as it appears to be something not too finicky that I could tinker with and tweak exactly the way I want it. If you have the sort of personality where you don't want or like to mess with things you might want to purchase a machine where you have local support. Neither personal style is better or worse, but it should be a part of your decision on the actual machine you purchase.

I still have not purchased this machine, but it is high on my list. It appears I am in need of replacing my 30+ year old machine first. 

Artist Network TV has a great free trial weekend. If you want to view some great HOW TO videos using different media, this is the weekend.

You do have to provide purchase information, but cancel at the end of the free weekend and there will be no charges. They have some great tutorials in all media. I really enjoyed Linda Kemp's negative painting technique.

Search by artist, medium or subject. There are some great ideas and inspiring art available for viewing.

Check it out and find some new ideas for your art!

The second great offer is Interweave's Hurt Book Sale.

Not only are selected books on sale in all the different areas (Mixed Media, Quilting, Sewing, Weaving, etc) but there are also DVD's and digital media on sale. Not all items are included but there are some great deals. Check it out and have a fun time shopping for new ideas or techniques.

If you are, you might want to pick up the latest (Sept/Oct 2012) issue of "Cloth, Paper, Scissors". There is a great article written by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer on the topic. Under the photos on the page are links (tinyurl.com) that will take you to Julie's blog examples.

I must admit, I am not good at posting every week as she suggests. Even if I write several
ahead, I have the bad habit of not going back into my "draft" folder and releasing them. Something else I will have to put into my "To Do" list as a reminder.

In addition to the blogging article is a great one (Getting Technical) on getting your photos ready to post on the web by Nikki Smith. A good blog always has good photos. (See Julie's article!) This covers cropping (selecting just part of the photo), resizing (scaling the complete
photo) and saving (specifically for the web). Several great photo examples of what to look
for in your photo editing software are shown.

This was another informative and inspiring issue. Serveral articles springboard me to try different techniques in my art. Since my subscription is up for renewal, I will be sending them more money.

Find inspiration in all areas of your surroundings.

I have been having fun yesterday and today with the deColourant products. I must admit that I have finally gotten around to using them on an "official" project. This came about because of challenge that Rachel issued at the last Quilts on the Wall meeting. A few of us are to create an "art to wear" piece for the next meeting in September. As the gauntlet was thrown down after the meeting was over, I have no idea how many people will actually create a piece.

To create something similar you will need:
deColourant and/or deColourant Plus
    (I used Natural Mustard Yellow and deColourant Creme)
Brushes or sponges for application
Stencils, stamps or printing blocks
Hair dryer or heat gun
A steam iron
A natural fiber garment (mine was 100% cotton)
and of course paper towels for drying stencils and brushes during use.

I also had an insert (foam core or cardboard) to keep the fabric taunt while working with the stencils. This helps to stablize the fabric, protect the off side of your garment and keep folds out of your work.

Click on Read More (lower right corner) to see the rest of my review....

I sometimes like to pick up different books or magazines that inspire me for my art quilts. Pages, by Cloth, Paper, Scissors (an Interweave product) is one of those that I recently picked up.

Like all the Interweave magazines it is beautifully photographed, so that alone is an inspiration. Several articles were interesting but the ones that intrigued me the most was the "Fused and Stitched" along with the "Bound to Travel" Both have very interesting journal ideas that may be fun to take on outings or daily to record interesting events.

The article on "Putting on the Paint" is something that could be used in art quilting and inspired some ideas on future projects."The Gesso Page" was VERY interesting and I am already planning on using some of those ideas in a future quilt or small project. Of course, Jane LaFazio has a great article on using vellum (Playing with Vellum) in a project. She is a great teacher. David and I took a series of classes from her in Escondido.

You might want to check out this magazine even if you are not a "journal-er".

I have decided that I am going to post some reviews of different publications and videos that I have found helpful either in inspiration or technique. My first review is of the latest edition of Art Quilting Studio (Summer 2012) published by Stampington Press.

This magazine was published a few years ago but retired. I am glad to say that it is back and just as wonderful as the first editions. The magazine is not always easy to find (I found my copy at Barnes & Noble Booksellers) but in the past I have also found it at Jo-Ann's fabric store. If you don't have a subscription it could be quite a search. If you are interested in art quilts and quilting it might be worth signing up for your copies to be mailed to you.

Like all Stampington publications, it is wonderfully photographed and printed. There are lots of inspiring closeups and detail shots of larger works.

I was intrigued with the Painted & Dyed Quilts article by Els van Baarle. She works with wax and Procion MX dyes and gets wonderful detail and color saturation in her work. I am going to work with what I have in my current arsenal of supplies and see if I can experiment with some of her techniques.

I have always liked Marianne Burr's quilts and her article titled Circles & Stitches is a great read and the photographs are fabulous. She paints on silk and then hand stitches to add dimension and texture. I have not been following her latest work so it was fun to see her progression shown in this article.

There are several articles showing how to use strips in creating art quilts. All are very interesting and different enough from each other. One is total abstraction, one is using to enhance your landscape quilt. Working in a series is a great way to grow and explore your designs and there are articles that cover this aspect.

I would like to mention that some artists from Quilts on the Wall have articles in the current edition of the magazine. Both fall into the technique "how to" category so you can learn how to put text as texture on fabric (Lisa Engelbrecht) or how to do value studies for a quilt (Deborah L. Stanley)

There are other wonderful articles in this magazine that I have not mentioned that cover cards, journals, using transparent fabrics and creating fabric brooches. This is a great magazine and I am very glad that they have decided to publish again.

There are different departments that you can be published in, Artist Showcase, Series Showcase, On the Surface, All by Hand, and Quilting the Odd & Unusual. If you have some fabulous work or a great technique you might consider submitting for an article. Who knows, you could soon be in print!

May/June 2012
David is featured in this months edition of Machine Quilting Unlimited in the "Noteworthy" section, page 77. He has a whole page for his "Vertigo" quilt that was for the Quilts on the Wall "Bridges" exhibit that debuted in Long Beach. It was very exciting to be contacted by the magazine about including his work.

This months magazine if packed full of interesting articles from portraits in fabric to 3D sculpture work. Lots of great photos of fabulous stitching are also a standard. If you ever struggle with stitch out ideas, this is the magazine for you.

MQU is a great magazine that covers both domestic and long arm quilters and techniques. They have a great website with web extras and they are always looking for quilts to feature. Check them out. Here is the link if you have something you would like to submit. http://mqumag.com/2012/02/we-are-always-looking-for-quilts/
 

The magazine is great to work with, they made the whole process very easy to submit work.  You should be able to find the magazine at a local shop or Barnes and Noble. They are another great art quilt magazine you might want to add to your subscriptions or sign up for their e-newsletter