Thread Stories: A Visual Guide to Creating Stunning Stitched Portrait Quilts

by Jennifer Day

Overview

Tell captivating stories in fabric and thread! Acclaimed quilting artist Jennifer Day invites you to create realistic portrait quilts. Turn your photos of people and animals into one-of-a-kind story quilts as you learn to stitch the details with thread painting. This step-by-step visual guide takes you from photo selection to editing, printing on fabric, thread painting, and free-motion quilting. Quilters of all levels can capture and quilt life’s precious memories with a home sewing machine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617450532
Publisher:	C & T Publishing
Publication date:	10/07/2015
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	8.40(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Jennifer Day is an ASID interior designer, goldsmith, photographer, and art quilter. Using up to 300 different colors of thread in a single quilt, her technique has attracted interest from international galleries, museums, and publications. She lives in New Mexico. jdaydesign.com

Table of Contents

Introduction: Quilts Are Stories Photographs That Tell a Story Elements of a Great Photo • Editing the Photo Tools and Supplies Sewing Machine • Free-Motion Presser Foot • Printable Paper-Backed Fabric • Canvas • Batting • Scissors and Thread Snips • Ruler • Backing and Binding Fabric Threads! Gütermann Thread • Precencia Thread • Isacord Embroidery Thread • Silk Thread • Variegated Thread Photographs and Cameras Environmental Portraits • Cropping • Digital Cameras and Image Size • Copyright • Pixels, Megapixels, Resolution, PPI, and DPI Using Photo-editing Software to Prepare Your Photos Make Your Photo the Best It Can Be • Posterization • More Posterization Examples Printing on Fabric Types of Fabric • Sizes of Fabric • Poster Printing Getting Started Making a Quilt Sandwich • Blending is Key • Stitching Direction The Eyes Have It The Iris • The Whites • Stitching the Eyes • Highlights • Eyelashes Blending Skin Tones Auditioning Threads • Starting the Blending Process Elisha (Diverse Skin Tones) Judy (Older Skin) • Texture • Lips • Eyes Carson (Youth) Hair Dark Hair • Streaks of Light • White and Gray Hair • Blondes Hands Elderly Hands • Young Hands Clothing Using Free-motion Quilting • Completely Covering in Thread • Appliqué • Combination Pet Portraits Taking the Perfect Pet Portrait • Eyes • Mouth • Fur • Whiskers • Birds Free-motion Quilting Choosing a Free-motion Design Correcting Mistakes Don’t Bee Too Hard On Yourself • Using Appliqué • Cutting to Remove Bubbles • Covering Over White Dots The Flip Side Portrait Artists Barbara McKie • Jayne Bently Gaskins • Laura Rocke… //fill in later Student work Additional Jennifer Day Quilts Resources About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Many of us have seen thread painting and have marvelled at the level of realism achieved. Now here is your chance to learn how to do it. All the basics are covered, such as the photo to choose, how to print and the threads to use. No special equipment is required, because the stitching is done on a regular sewing machine. The devil, they say, is in the detail, and Jennifer provides that detail to ensure the finished product is true to the original. The book has step-by-step help and guidance, so you don't have to be particularly experience to be able to achieve a great picture.

Issue 25 Down Under Textiles

08/01/2015
Day's photo-realistic quilts have been displayed at national and international quilt shows, museums, and the UN in Geneva. Her technique, which uses machine-sewn thread painting on top of a photograph printed on canvas, yields extraordinary detail and surprising texture. The author takes quilters through the various steps of her process, from selecting, editing, and preparing a photograph to printing on fabric to techniques for stitching a variety of details, including eyes, hair, and skin. Unfortunately, there are a number of unanswered questions, since Day jumps from the basics of preparing to thread paint directly to working with intricate details. This may leave beginners floundering as they try to figure out where and how to begin. A gallery of work from Day's students complements the numerous samples of the author's own work. VERDICT Day's quilts are inspiring, but the complexity of her techniques may be overwhelming, especially to quilters new to these methods. This distinct book is best suited to people with some background in machine-based thread painting.

Library Journal