{"id":1407,"date":"2013-08-26T18:08:04","date_gmt":"2013-08-27T01:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.terryaskeartquilts.com\/Studio\/?page_id=1407"},"modified":"2019-01-16T13:37:58","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T21:37:58","slug":"create-a-portrait-pattern-from-a-photo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.terryaskeartquilts.com\/Studio\/tips-tutorials-and-more\/create-a-portrait-pattern-from-a-photo\/","title":{"rendered":"Create a portrait pattern from a photo"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always start a portrait quilt from a photo.\u00a0\u00a0 I usually manipulate my photo with Picasa \u2013 cropping, increasing the contrast if necessary, changing it to black and white (to ensure I have enough value differences), and \u2018posterizing\u2019 it to reduce the number of values and to create distinct edges for each of the values.<\/p>\n

I usually use Picasa to edit my images.\u00a0 [Please note that the Picasa application is no longer supported, but it can still be downloaded.]\u00a0 I will continue to use Picasa to edit my photos, just because I’m familiar with how it works and I like the results.\u00a0 There are many other<\/span> photo-editing programs available, and most have similar effects \u2013 although they may have different names for the effects.\u00a0 For example, in Picasa the black and white effect is named B&W; in other software programs it may be called gray-scale.<\/p>\n

Once I\u2019m happy with my edited photo, I print it on 8.5 x 11 paper and draw in any necessary lines or details with pen.\u00a0 I outline each value with a Sharpie marker pen.\u00a0 The marker pen shows on the back of the paper which gives me a mirror image to use for tracing onto the fusible web.<\/p>\n

Then I take it to a FedEx\/Kinkos Copy Centre and enlarge it to the actual size of the quilt.\u00a0 Many of my pet portrait quilts are about 16 x 18 inches.\u00a0\u00a0 The full-size copy of the front is used as a master pattern when positioning the fabrics to ensure correct placement.\u00a0 The full-size copy of the back, which is the mirror image of the design, is used to trace the elements onto fusible web.<\/p>\n

General tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n