Friday 17 December 2010

In The Print!


 2011 is nearly here and my diary fell apart in October from over use. Luckily I hadn't got around to buying a new one when yesterday - this diary arrived (unexpectedly) in my mail box!


This was a good surprise in a hectic week.

I was very happy indeed... because my quilt Midnight Garden is a featured page pic for Sept/Oct


I get especially excited when my quilts are published because usually, the magazine photo ends up being the best photo that I have of them on record. I have always thought that I should have my quilt collection professionally photographed and this is something I would love to do but have not been able to justify the expense. Oh well, I will have to start making my quilts more photo friendly!

I have discovered that I love to make 'difficult to photo' quilts with hues that don't do themselves justice on film. And then of course, there's always the red/white quilt dilemma because red and white quilts rarely photograph 'true' in my experience. And I do love red and white.

What's a quilter to do??

I finally got around to purchasing The Australian Patchwork & Quilters Magazine Vol 19 No 10 (November) which features a Showcase Special. It's great to look back after showcase and have another look at the quilts you admired during the show.

This year I have been privileged enough to have Sunshine & Shadow featured and I am so glad.

A few people had told me it was published (thank you) but I have been avoiding the shops so only got my copy yesterday. My DH had to visit 3 newsagents and then purchased the last 2 copies on shelf. It was in a wrapped cover and he couldn't flick through to find me, so we exchanged several no not that one conversations as he couldn't understand why there were so many different quilting magazines on the market?? Anyone??

Once again, I love the photo. The colours are spot on and the quilt is straight. Perfect.
Many thanks to Marni Franks for the write up.




In baking news, the weather will be cool all week so it is back on the agenda. I love my Christmas baking with my 2 DDs. As they get older I really enjoy myself more and more....as it now involves me looking on with a cup of coffee and offering yeast advise rather than getting stuck in. It's a nice stage.

Just in the last week I have been made aware of a few copyright issues and upsets that have arisen from completely different sources and groups.  Looking on objectively, I think it's interesting that completely unconnected people can have very similar ideas. (I'm talking about 'ideas' here, not design theft). Any reader of this blog will know how strongly I feel about upholding and maintaining Copyright - even though I offer work for free. Originality matters.

On a different note, isnt it interesting when you think about something for a while...and then you start noticing it everywhere? I have been interested in floriography for a long time and have just designed a floriography themed quilt (more on that next year...) All of a sudden, I am finding floriography articles everywhere! Is it just me, or is it coming into fashion again? I hope so. But more interestingly - was I inspired / influenced unknowingly by an upcoming trend....or have enough people randomly taken an interest in it for it to become a trend? Just a thought...

10 comments:

  1. Congratulations for being featured in this calendar! This quilt is so phantastic, the palette, the radiance of the pattern... Extraordinary.
    What about digital remastering of your photos? This can enhance most everything. It can be a matter of the camera, too; if you take automatic shots, moreover with a flashlight, the colors turn out bleached and shallow. For these corrections, I even use a free ware photo program I found on the internet -- if I don't bother to drive the big one out of the garage.

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  2. Thanks Eva, and you are so right - you can do so much with photoshop and other software, I have just found that you have to fiddle so much and sometimes you lose when you gain. For instance, if you brighten up a quilt you can lose quilt stitch details. You are right about the flash. I never use it on my quilts. We just need a professional magazine photographer handy!

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  3. Esther,

    Congrats on the calender and the magazine. What fun to open your new calender and find your quilt, by the way, which is just gorgeous. I love to take pictures of my quilts outside on an overcast day or under an awning in morning sun. Indirect light. I will talk to my photographer cousin and ask some how-to questions. Will get back to you on that one.
    As to the DH surprise at the amount of Quilting mags, giggle, it is always so very funny to see their reactions. No, we are not the only ones who are just mad about fabric and thread.

    Hugs to you,
    Bobbie

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  4. Congratulations!! I would love to purchase the calendar, could you tell me where to purchase???
    I use Picasa for my quilt pictures that I display on my blog... it is a free download that is user friendly, you don't have to fiddle. I also use Photo Shop which is more complicated if I working on something special. I like easy...lol
    Again Congratulations!!!

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  5. Congratulations on the calendar and the magazine publications :)

    Do you have a college close by with a photography department? Maybe the students there could photograph your designs as one of their portfolio projects.

    I'll be interested to see where the "spontanious great minds think alike" progresses.

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  6. Hi Esther, both your quilts are just stunning! Unfortunately it is impossible to buy any Australian quilt magazines from Finnish newsstands :(

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  7. Wow!! Congratulations on your quilts being featured in the calendar and magazine. You do beautiful work! I loved how you mentioned that you baked cookies with your daughters. This year baking was a drudgery for me as I did it alone. I think I will start a new traditional and tell my daughter that if she wants cookies, she can help me!!! Great blog! Karen

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  8. Congrats! What an honor that is! It is a gorgeous quilt!
    Micki

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  9. Congratulations, my Appq just came in the other day, always late here in France, and your quilt is Wow!!
    I also have the diary, but did not realise that you were there, so off I went to check, and yes, Continue to make us dream, and Happy Holidays

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  10. I agree.........there is just nothing like the rush of opening a publication and seeing your work grace the pages!!!!

    CONGRATULATIONS!
    Well deserved of course.

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