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Learning

Learning

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I’ve been teaching Pet Portraits to quilters and non-quilters alike at in-person workshops since 2014 but when the Covid pandemic hit, everything changed. One of the positives that emerged was discovering that we don’t need to travel to take a class. Who knew that learning online is actually better in some ways than in-person learning? Yes, we can be in class while we’re still in our jammies! More importantly, we can learn at our own pace at convenient times without having to keep up with everyone else in the class. In short, Covid-19 made online learning more than OK and it’s officially blossomed as a way of learning and connecting with others.

Without further a-do, my Pet Portrait Fabric Collage classes are online! Learn from the comfort of your home at a time and pace that suits you.

Online Classes

There are 3 phases to making a fabric collage so I have created a course to match each phase. You can sign up for any or all of the Pet Portrait courses, depending on your needs.

… if you are beginning or have already tried making a pet portrait, start with From Picture to Pattern.

… if you started a pet portrait but need a nudge to finish, start with Fabric Collage.

… if you’ve finished a collage but don’t know how to quilt it, start with Quilting and Finishing.

Each course guides you step-by-step with photos, written instructions and videos. For individual coaching, enter your question in the lesson’s comments box and I’ll answer it as you work through the course. You’re welcome and encouraged to join our Facebook group for support and to see what other students are working on.

Once you register, the course is yours to access whenever you want and it doesn’t expire. You read that right! Life intervenes and changes our plans sometimes, so you will be able to work at your own pace.

From Picture to Pattern

In this course, you will learn how to make a pattern from a photo of your favourite pet or animal. This includes choosing a great photo, preparing your photo, enlarging and printing the full-size photos and how to see like an artist as you trace. You’ll learn what and how to trace as you discover your own style.

On completion, you will have your own unique pattern and a foundation with a placement guide for your pet portrait collage. As a bonus, you will also have a “photo sandwich” to use as your guide in choosing the ideal fabrics to build and assemble your collage.

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Fabric Collage

In this course, you will learn how value, colour and texture play important roles in fabric collage. You’ll learn how to identify value in fabric using a value finder (free download included) and how to select fabrics for your portrait. You’ll see how to use Steam-a-Seam Lite to cut and fuse the fabric shapes and how to properly layer them to improve the sense of depth. And the eyes…oh, the eyes. Yes, you’ll learn how to make those beautiful eyes and noses in this course. You’ll be amazed when you see your pet’s eyes peeking back at you from your collage. Finally, you’ll see how to choose and construct a background to really make your portrait pop.

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Quilting and Finishing

Are you hesitant to stitch through your collage after all the work you’ve put into it? Conquer your fear in this class. Anne will lead you through the process step-by-step so you can build your confidence to quilt your collage.

We’ll start by making a plan for quilting your portrait. Make all the changes you like at this stage. You’ll keep the final design close by the sewing machine for reference as you quilt the portrait.

Then we’ll explore different types of thread and how they affect the final appearance of your quilted collage. This will take care of the question: which thread will I use and where will I use it? Next, we’ll tackle the elephant in the room: how do I quilt it? You will conquer your fears by quilting on a small fabric collage sample with a selection of threads before you touch your actual fabric collage (…this makes a great set of mug rugs when you’re finished). With the quilting plans at your fingertips and some practice under your belt, you’ll be ready to quilt your collaged portrait.

The only thing remaining at this point is the finishing. You will see four ways to finish the edges of your quilt, including how to mount it on a stretched canvas. For a final touch, you’ll see how to add an internal border that really sets off your portrait.

Learn More

I am available by email or text message to support you and answer any questions you have along the way. Or, post your comments or questions in the Comment box for that lesson and I will pick it up and answer you. Of course, you can email me at collagequilter@icloud.com.

I hope you’ll sign up and start creating a fabric collage of your favourite pet or animal today. If you’ve already started a collage, there’s no better time to get re-connected with it and finish it off with some expert guidance.

There’s more….a Facebook group for students who wish to share and enhance their experience with social media. I’ll be answering questions and posting updates there as well.

I hope to see you in class soon.

Anne

From Picture to Pattern

From Picture to Pattern

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There is so much more to making a pattern than simply sketching or tracing an outline from a photo. The bottom line is that your pattern will determine the final look of your pet portrait so it is well worth the time to learn how to make a great pattern.

Learn how it’s done in Anne’s online course and from there, you will be ready to make a fabric collage portrait that you will cherish. When you’re finished, you will have a unique pattern, a foundation/placement guide for assembling your fabric collage, and a value guide to help you choose fabrics for the portrait.

The lessons consist of photos, clear written instructions, videos and downloadable pdf files.

Individual coaching is included. Just enter your question in the lesson’s comments box or email me and I’ll answer it as you work through the course.

After purchasing the course, it’s yours! Access it whenever you want for as long as you want. It doesn’t expire.

From photo to pattern to quilted portrait.

I signed up for Anne’s Pet Portrait course with the mindset that it would take me a few attempts before I’d be happy with the results – but wow was I ever pleased with the first attempt. My first pet portrait will also be my first quilt that I put into a quilt show. I’ve expanding the scope of my quilting because the techniques I learned from Anne.

Sylvia

Next course…

Pet portrait from photo to pattern
Pet Portrait Collage From Picture to Pattern

Pet Portrait Collage From Picture to Pattern

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In the first two parts of this Pet Portrait Collage tutorial, you saw how values are essential to seeing depth and dimension and how to sort fabrics by value. The next step, making a pattern from a photo, can be a stumbling block for many. Follow along to see how it’s done.

Prepare Photos

To begin, have a good quality photo enlarged to the size of your finished portrait. You will also need a black & white copy, identical in size but reversed (flipped horizontally), for making a pattern.

I used to start by tracing from an 8 1/2″ x 11″ photo and enlarging the pattern afterwards. However, a full size photo provides you with far better information for selecting fabrics and makes the process more enjoyable.

There are several printing options. One option is to print your enlarged photo on your home printer (select ‘poster’ in the printer options) and tape the pages together. Similarly, you can use www.blockposters.com to convert it to a poster, print it and then tape the pages together. The other option is take your photo to a copy centre and have them print the enlargements for you on regular printer paper.

Pet Portrait

This photo of Gibson, an Airedale, has light coming from the right and shadowing on the left. You can see fine details in his black and gold colouring. But if you look past the actual colours and consider the relative values of those blacks and golds, you’ll see that this photo has a good range of values.

Dog art

I have posterized and reversed this black & white photo of Gibson so you can see the full range of 5 values: black on his nose, eyes, inside the ears and on his shoulders and chest; dark, medium and light greys in his coat; white on the top and side of his head.

Zoom in to see if you can identify all five values.

Posterizing your photo reduces the colours or values to a set number and is usually used to simplify the photo. It is certainly not essential for making a pattern for collage, but can help if you’re struggling to see the shifts in value. There are apps, programs and websites for changing a colour photo to black & white and for posterizing, such as Gimp (dowload for free), Photoshop Elements ($$), Postershine (free app) and Pixlr Editor (free website).

Once you become tuned in to seeing and reading values, you’re ready to begin making your pattern. When it’s completed, you’ll have a paint-by-number pattern to use for making your portrait.

Set-up

Gather your two photos (a colour original and a black & white reversed copy), masking tape, a fine tipped black permanent marker, a colourless blender pen (available at art stores) and a sheet of mylar plastic (also available at art stores) large enough to just cover your portrait.

  1. Place your two photos side by side, colour on the left and black & white on the right. 
  2. Place a sheet of clear mylar plastic over the colour photo, about 1/2″ from the right side. Tape the right edge of the mylar to the colour photo. 
  3. On the mylar plastic sheet, trace some registration lines by tracing around the eyeball, iris, pupil (if it’s visible) and the fleshy part of the nose. Use the colourless blender marker pen as an eraser, if needed.
  4. Flip the mylar onto the black & white photo. Tape the left edge of the mylar to the colour photo. 
  5. Lift the mylar slightly so you can align the black & white photo with the eye and nose tracings.
  6. Carefully flip the mylar back onto the colour photo. Apply tape along the left edge of the black & white photo to secure it to the colour photo.

You should now be able to flip the plastic mylar page freely from the original colour photo to the black & white photo without anything shifting. Adjust and re-tape if necessary.

Making a Pattern from a Photo
Mylar tracing is over the Original Colour Photo
Making a Pattern from a Photo
Mylar tracing is over the B&W Pattern

Tracing the Pattern

Now that your mylar sheet is secure, you can begin making a pattern from your photo. You have a choice of tracing from the colour photo and/or the black & white photo. Whichever you choose, you can flip the mylar to the other side to check your work.

If you’re wondering where to begin tracing, here’s a good way to tackle it.

  1. Look closely at your black & white photo, taking note of the different values from lightest to darkest.
  2. Now look for areas that read as the lightest value (white/light grey) and trace completely around each area. Mark these as 1’s.
    • Start with the easiest shapes and gradually tackle the ones that look harder to define and lasso.
  3. Now look for the next darkest value of grey, and trace around those areas. Mark them as 2’s.
  4. Continue working through each value until you have traced and numbered all the areas that read as the darkest value (black).

Tips for Tracing

As you trace, think of each area as a puzzle piece that you are going to lasso. Your tracing line needs to completely encircle the piece so try to keep your pen down until it returns to the starting point. You will eventually cut each puzzle piece out of fabric so it’s important that you completely lasso each one.

As you trace, think of each area as a puzzle piece or a blob that you are going to lasso.

If you’re unsure of how to trace a particular area, flip the mylar to the other side to help you decide.

When the shape becomes more like a wandering amoeba, stretching right across the page, make it into two or three separate shapes to keep the size manageable. Ignore tiny blobs smaller than your baby fingernail. Remember, you can always erase unwanted lines with a colourless blender marker pen.

Once you’ve finished tracing, slip a piece of white paper under the mylar to check your paint-by-number masterpiece. It might look more like a ‘mess-terpiece’, but fear not as this is the scariest point in the process. Check your tracing carefully and close up any disconnected, dangling lines. Make sure all of the shapes are closed and have been assigned a value.

Tracing to Muslin

Pattern shapes are outlined on plastic and assigned a value.

Next, you’ll trace this pattern onto a piece of light muslin.

  1. To ensure the correct orientation, flip the mylar plastic onto the original colour photo.
  2. Slide a piece of white paper underneath the plastic mylar to reveal your pattern.
  3. Drape the muslin over the mylar plastic, covering the entire pattern. Now, tape down the four corners and smooth the muslin so it is taught.
  4. Use a light touch to trace your pattern onto the muslin, omitting the numbered values. If you’ll be using very light fabrics for your portrait, trace with a light coloured marker.
  5. Transfer the muslin to a portable design wall.

Now stand back and admire your masterpiece. Notice how it looks just like your photo? Amazing, isn’t it?  A little bit intimidating, maybe? Not to worry, you’ll be working on one puzzle piece at a time.

You’ve earned a break so be sure to have a good stretch and rest your eyes. When you come back, you’ll be ready to dive into your fabric stash.

If you’ve followed along, congratulations on making it this far! I hope you have a better handle on seeing and reading values in both fabrics and photos. With a little practice, you’ll be ready to get to work creating your own unique quilted pet portrait collage.

Send me a message if you have any burning questions and I’ll do my best to answer.

Are you ready to put this knowledge to use and make a stunning fabric collage Pet Portrait? This is just one small part of the comprehensive online course which you can learn more about here: Pet Portraits: From Picture to Pattern.

Boston Terrier on Blue

Boston Terrier on Blue

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As an art quilter, I generally don’t make two of the same quilts on purpose. But, while I was auditioning the green background on Piper’s portrait, my enthusiasm got out of hand and I was having so much fun, I just had to complete it. But, it was a commission and I had not even asked the client what colour she wanted! With a copy of the templates in hand, I made a second portrait of Piper and fortunately, the black & white version also looks great on this saturated blue.

Quilted pet portrait, boston terrier portrait

Below is the workup for Piper, showing that I had traced the line drawing onto a thin muslin background. The lines are almost all covered up, but hopefully you can see a few of them in the face area. Since the individual fabric shapes are all backed with Lite Steam-s-Seam II they are lightly sticky and I can simply fill in the spaces, one shape at a time.

Process for constructing pet portrait

Using a re-positionable fusible product such as Lite Steam-a Stam II allows you to view your work in the vertical plane as it progresses. No pins, no glue, no pieces slipping around! It’s truly a ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ approach and makes a world of difference.

Here’s what I learned from making Piper twice:

  1. Always find out what your client wants before getting too carried away!
  2. Photocopy your templates so you can make a new set if, needed.
  3. Using a re-positionable fusible lets you work in a vertical plane and truly see your work as it develops.

There you have it: making a piece twice can really have unexpected advantages.

A Boston Terrier Joins the Pack

A Boston Terrier Joins the Pack

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Piper is a 6 year old Boston Terrier who’s as sweet and adorable as they come. His mom captured this great photo of him in a local park. He’s pretty focussed on something interesting in the distance so I strongly suspect that cookies were involved in him sitting still!

Piper, the Boston Terrier

The expression on Piper’s face told me right away that this would make a terrific candidate for a fabric portrait and I could hardly wait to make it. Here is the 20″ x 24″ quilted portrait made from that photograph. It’s made entirely of cotton fabric (and batting) and was stitched using a Bernina sewing machine.

quilted pet portrait boston terrier

I wanted to make an interesting background that related somehow to the grassy park setting so I experimented with a collection of green fabrics in my stash. I cut the chosen fabrics in widths from 3/8″ and 1 1/2″ and then placed them in alternating directions all around Piper. Since I had applied a fusible product (Mistyfuse) to the back of the fabrics before cutting them, I was able to press them onto the background with an iron once I was satisfied with the effect.

Deciding on the quilting design is always a challenge. To help with this decision, I start by doodling on paper before trying out the best designs on small 8″ x 8″ quilt sandwiches. In this case, I came up with a free motion design I’m calling paper clips. I used a green polyester Magnifico thread made by Superior Threads and stitched the paper clip design in one continuous line over the entire quilt.

quilted pet portrait boston terrier

I like to add an internal border to set off the portrait and more often than not, this Australian aboriginal print is the winner. I love the playfulness of the white printed lines as it reflects the dog’s playful soul and I think you’ll agree that the balance of white on black complements Piper’s colours really well.

Welcome to the pack, Piper!

Another dog portrait is done!

Another dog portrait is done!

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The latest dog portrait has finally graduated from the design wall to the dog house. Welcome, Gus … formerly known as Max!

Each portrait I make provides an opportunity to try something new and this time, I decided to make a strip pieced background. Orienting the strips on the diagonal seems to enhance the sense of depth and add extra punch to that big pink tongue. I also decided to use more colour in the eyes, nose, and mouth, again emphasizing these great features.

quilted pet portrait

Gus waited a long time on the design wall as I spent almost a month touring by bike through France this summer. Now that I’m back and rested from towing my possessions behind me on my bicycle over 1400 km from the Loire Valley to Provence, I’m in the studio and making dog portraits again. All that pent up creativity is getting released. Ahhh… that feels good.

I have also been working on improving my brand and the first item on the improvement list is to change the domain name of my website to 2dognightdesign.com. More exciting changes will follow. Thanks for staying tuned to my journey as it evolves in the world of dog portraits.

Welcome to the Dog House, Tinkerbelle

Welcome to the Dog House, Tinkerbelle

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Today was a great day because I finally delivered the quilted pet portrait of Tinkerbelle to her parents. Tinkerbelle was there and she was none the wiser of course, but Mom and Dad were thrilled with the quilt.

quilted pet portrait

Without further a-do, here is the last instalment of this series explaining my technique for finishing a pet portrait.

Step 13

The final step is to finish the outside edges and add a hanging sleeve and a label. This is no time to gloss over the details and rush to the finish line because the quality of workmanship here can make or break the piece. The traditional finishing method is to square the quilt up and add a single or double fold binding to create a narrow outside border. I prefer a single internal border in my portraits so I finish the edges with a facing for a clean finish. The facing is simply a 2 1/2” wide strip of matching fabric (a separate strip for each edge) that’s stitched to the front of the quilt and then turned to the back and stitched down by hand. To save time, I prepared the hanging sleeve and attached its top edge to the upper facing strip before it was applied to the quilt. Once the facing was secured on the back, all I had to do was stitch the lower edge of the hanging sleeve to the back.

I always record my name and the date the quilt was finished on a quilt label which I print onto fabric. After fusing it to the back of the quilt I secure it with an invisible hand stitch. Then it’s time to photograph the portrait before transporting it to its new home.

free motion quilting a pet portrait
Tinkerbelle is Off the Wall

Tinkerbelle is Off the Wall

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It’s time to celebrate because Tinkerbelle’s portrait is done and she has moved off the design wall! In this blog, I’ll describe how I quilted the background and the portrait itself.

Step 10

I knew that I wanted to frame Tinkerbelle with an internal border 2 1/2” from the outside edge and that provided me the final dimensions of  22” wide x 24” high. Having selected the blue-green batik, I cut out a rectangle this size plus an additional 2” in width and height. I cut out slightly larger pieces of lightweight batting and backing and made a quilt sandwich out of the 3 layers, spray basting them so they would cling well and not slip around while I stitched them.

I had to decide on a free motion design so I took out a paper pad and doodled a few free motion designs, then chose two of my favourites. I’m a fan of testing my ideas before using them so I stitched some small samples to see how they would look. Oh my, am I glad I did that! This is how they turned out. The design on top was the winner hands down because it has a calming feeling while the one below looks busy and chaotic.

auditioning fm for tink

There’s no need to quilt behind the portrait itself so I marked off that area with a chalk marker. Then I went ahead and quilted the rest of the quilt sandwich.

Step 11

Next, I pinned the portrait in place on the background and with a Sulky invisible monofilament thread and Schmetz Microtex 60 needle, I zigzagged along the entire outer edge. I used my walking foot for this operation. After securing the portrait this way, I switched to an open-toed darning foot, dropped the feed dogs on my machine, changed to a Schmetz Microtex 70 needle and used the five colour-matched threads (Aurifil 50wt cotton) to stitch around the raw edge of each piece in the portrait.

free motion stitching a quilted dog portrait

Step 12

I had selected a black on white aboriginal print for the internal border since it seemed to echo the light on Tinkerbelle’s face. I planned to make a 1/2” border so I cut a 1” wide strip the required length plus a few inches to join the two ends. With a Hera marker I marked a 1/4” crease on each long edge, turned these edges to the back of the strip and pressed the strip well. I marked the placement of the internal border on the background with a chalk marker and then pinned the strip down along the chalk line. Using a narrow zigzag and invisible monofilament thread I stitched the inner edge of the border down, leaving a gap where I needed to join the two ends. I used a standard technique for joining these with a diagonal seam then resumed stitching the rest of the inner edge and finished off the outer edge.

internal border of quilted pet portrait

All that’s left now is to finish the edges with a facing and add a hanging sleeve. That will be the final instalment in this series. If you have any thoughts on the processes I’ve described, please give me a shout by leaving a comment. Thanks again for checking in.

Auditioning My Rendition … of Tinkerbelle

Auditioning My Rendition … of Tinkerbelle

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If you’ve been following along with me, you’ll have seen that Belle’s portrait finally came together. The next step is to find a good background for her, something that will really make her personality shine. I started by auditioning fabrics from my stash. Auditioning is simply placing the fabric on the vertical design wall and laying the portrait on it, then standing back to view it. It’s really important to audition on a vertical surface so you’re addressing the piece face-on and can absorb the full effect. What I was looking for is simple: do I get an ‘ah-hah’ feeling to tell me it’s the right one or does it feel flat or just wrong? Of course there are no rights or wrongs and you just have to follow what your head and your heart tell you is best. Here are a three worthy candidates I selected.

:belle on red-orange      belle on blue        belle on blue green

And here are my thoughts on each one:

  • I really like the movement in the pinky orange batik with the grey maple leaves stamped all over it but I struggle with the fact that Belle’s face is bathed in light and nothing in this background supports that. Or does it? Perhaps it’s the warmth that seemed to oppose the coolness of the greys and blacks.
  • The blue background worked well for my previous portrait, Jackeroo, but it’s a flop in this case. It simply feels flat and motionless and there’s no light emanating from it.
  • The green batik has movement and depth because of the blue/green shading. The lighter areas almost look like sunlight shining through a dense leafy foliage. It also has a subtle leaf pattern on it and while it doesn’t look so great in this photo, it ended up being my favourite. Now it’s time to prepare it for quilting so I can stitch the portrait down.

For you quilters out there, what tricks or guidelines do you use to select fabrics that play well together? And how do you know when they’re playing together well?

Thanks for reading my blog. Next time, I’ll describe how I prepare the background and what I do with the portrait.

All Together Now…Altogether Now

All Together Now…Altogether Now

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The quilted pet portrait of Tinkerbelle is coming together at last. I’ve been describing this technique of transforming a photo of your pet into a quilted pet portrait in the last couple of posts. Today’s post is all about bringing a lot of little bitty fabric pieces together.

After fussy cutting out 85 pieces from 9 different fabrics, I started placing and fusing them onto a base I had cut out of fusible non-woven stabilizer. To be honest, this was a real challenge. Here’s the deal: many pieces had edges that had to be tucked under AND edges that had to go over the adjacent shapes. There were basically a lot of interlocking pieces. Read on to find out how this all came together.Belle’s quilted pet portrait

Step 9

So how did I bring all these pieces together? First, I spent time studying the original photo to observe depth of field — what parts are closer and which ones are further away? Then I did a dry run with all the major shapes to see how this interlocking would work. I made lots of mental notes and then I cleared the deck, making sure the keep the shapes together in numbered groups. I pinned the transparent master to my portable working surface, slipped the base underneath and one by one, removed the paper backing and placed the shapes in their final resting place.

Here’s the forehead region.  All those little arrows marking the ‘unders’ and ‘overs’  really come into play here as they tell me which edges to place underneath the others. Some of those pieces are small! I use tweezers to move them into place.

Quilted pet portrait

As I positioned each piece, I used a light touch with the iron to tack it to the base and avoided touching the edges that had to remain free to allow the next shape to tuck underneath. Here’s how she looks under the transparency when all the shapes are in place.

Quilted pet portrait

At this point, I need to look at her with a critical eye to decide if I really achieved the right values in the right place. I can see there are a few subtle adjustments to make however the construction is completed. I’m off to the fabric store now to find a background that will really make this portrait pop. Next up will be a post all about colour and focal points.

If you’ve read this far, thanks for reading my blog!