Photographing Quilts

Before I get to my new topic of the week, I have one more UFO comment. Cheryl Anderson and I were recently discussing Pam’s comment that she thinks of UFO as opportunities. Cheryl took this to another level and now calls her UFO – Utterly Fabulous Opportunities! I wish I’d thought of that! Please visit her blog for more of her insights (Cheryl’s Chatelaine in the Blogroll).

Now to something new: years ago my dear friend, Necia Wallace, gave me some excellent instructions for photographing my quilts. She had spent some time as a professional photographer  and her advice has been invaluable.

Some of you may say you don’t need to take pictures of your quilts, but I beg to differ. Taking pictures along the path of your quilting life is a great way to keep track of how many you’ve made and how much you’ve improved. My memory is not what it used to be and scanning through my pictures is a happy trip down memory lane.

Speaking of a trip down memory lane – this is the only picture I have of my very first quilt. It was made in 1987, in a beginner sampler class taught by Sharon Grieve (now Grinyer). I entered it in the Sun Prairie quilt show and, even though it didn’t win anything, I was so proud (can’t you tell). This was way before digital and took a bit of guts to share :-).

I still have this quilt, but it was made to be used and it’s been loved into a much shabbier condition.

Many of us also need to take pictures of our work in order to enter competitions. This is when quality photography is very important, but no matter what the reason, if you’re going to do something, I feel its worth doing it right.

I plan to share my tips and tricks for quilt photography with a simple “point and shoot” camera in my Thursday post. Until then I’d love to hear from anyone who wants to share. Do you have questions on how to make your pictures better? Do you have a simple/easy way to get good results? Please comment if you dare :-)!