From Edge 2 Edge Blog

Working on a New Spoonflower Design

9/27/2015

I have been working madly this weekend to get a new design uploaded to Spoonflower. This is another black and white piece that I will be adding color to after I receive it in hand. My hope is that I will be working on two pieces for the upcoming SAQA exhibits of Tranquility and Turmoil.

Tranquility is due to be submitted in January and Turmoil is due in February. In between I need to get photos reviewed and/or taken so that David can submit work to the "No Girls Allowed" exhibit at the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. Guess what I will be doing on my next off Friday?

I committed to a 3 yard print order and I also did a sample print on a different fabric. I have enough fabric to experiment on and get my pieces designed. Both are the whitest cottons they have. I have a small Spoonflower swatch book so I was able to compare the fabrics.

It is a good idea to take advantage of all the samples and tools that Spoonflower offers. They have the fabric sample book which is great to see up close and in person the weight, weave and whiteness of the fabric. Since I will be using transparent paints, I wanted a really clean white.

If you are printing colors, Spoonflower also has color profiles for each fabric to use in Photoshop. They are available for both Windows and Mac. Instructions are clear on the page where the download is on where to place them in your computer so the program has access to them.

I can't wait to get my fabric and get started painting. I spent some time on Saturday testing out some stitch designs on a sample fabric. I will be excited to stitch it on my new design.

What are you working on? Are you submitting to a SAQA exhibit?

Very small detail of my design for the SAQA call for entry

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Morning bike ride sights in Temecula wine country.

9/27/2015

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Test Swatch Comparision: Spoonflower

9/20/2015

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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.

Poly Crepe de Chine / Silk Crepe de Chine

So here's my recommendation: decide on the look you want, decide on one or more fabric choices that would be suitable for your project, and get your test swatches printed. If you want just one fabric, consider uploading different saturation levels of your design and get your swatch samples made. I promise that you will be happy you did the test prints.

I found a piece of the cotton to show the comparison. The silk and cotton are similar in both color and edge quality of the design. Both are less saturated and have more of a watercolor effect. The polyester is sharper in edge quality and brighter in color.

From left clockwise: Silk (white border 2 sides), Cotton, Poly (bottom)

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Turbulence delivered to VAM & Dining at Stone Brewery

9/12/2015

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After work on Friday David and I went to Point Loma to drop off my Turbulence quilt for the upcoming exhibit October 17, 2015—January 3, 2016 Interpretations: Celebrating 30 Years. We were able to talk to Beth and Lisa while we were there. I will be looking forward to going to the Opening Reception on October 17, 2015: Visions Art Museum, 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 100 San Diego, California

Beth let us know (woo hoo) that they have gotten approval and next year will have air conditioning installed. That will be wonderful as it was a little humid in the gallery space when we were there. They have a great exhibit up now so if you want to see it, get there quick. It will be coming down soon for the new installation.

After dropping off the quilt we strolled around the area for a while, enjoying the breeze and then headed to Stone Brewery for dinner. We have friends that love the food there so we just had to check it out. That, and the fact that the traffic was very heavy because of the September 11th event.

We both sampled one of the "coffee" beers and I enjoyed the duck tacos while David sampled the grilled salmon sandwich. They were both beautiful and very tasty. If you are in the area, check it out. I loved the decor with the boulders throughout the building. You must check out the bathrooms. Very unique.

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Working on a New Spoonflower Design

Morning bike ride sights in Temecula wine country.

Test Swatch Comparision: Spoonflower

Turbulence delivered to VAM & Dining at Stone Brewery

David & Patricia

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Working on a New Spoonflower Design﻿

Morning bike ride sights in Temecula wine country.

Test Swatch Comparision: Spoonflower

Turbulence delivered to VAM & Dining at Stone Brewery

David & Patricia

Archives

Categories

Working on a New Spoonflower Design