Any Quilters Around Here ???

[Rusty]

I picked up a friend today to bring her to our home for dinner. She showed me a pretty cool "Generation Quilt" presented to her several weeks ago by her children (80th birthday party).

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1Xp0AEu2TJFWDw7S55ZfLYw5Fum_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1Xp0AEu2TJFWDw7S55ZfLYw5Fum)

This is obviously still a work in progress. The top row has her wedding photo with squares on the side for her and her late husband's parents. Their 50th Anniversary photo is in the center. The second row is for each of her four children (w/spouse) and below each, rows for grandchildren.

The photos are printed on fabric and sewn over the appropriate "spots". I know nothing about this - do you actually print on the fabric or do you print on a transfer that's applied to the fabric?

If any of you have contacts with quilters or quilting groups (I think there are such groups) I can envision quite a cottage industry restoring old photos and preparing the printed squares :) Heck, I know everybody that hangs out on this forum could have done a better job on that 1949 wedding photo.

Christmas is coming -- I could go thru the galleries here and find dozens of great baby quilts :)

Just a thought. Of course, those of you that are quilters may well say, "Rusty, that's old news. We have been printing photos on fabric for 15+ years!" :D

Rusty

[AngelicKim]

Rusty, generation quilts are really nice. I am not a quilter but to answer your question, yes there is fabric that can be printed directly one or you could do it with a transfer. I think most use the fabric though as it gives a much better result in the quality of the print.

[Wendy]

Wow that is fantastic .. I really like the way it looks :)

Wendy

[kimh]

Rusty, thanks for sharing. A friend of mine is doing one for her daughter that just went away to college. She had friends/family give some sentimental picture. She also did one using her kids sports t-shirts from over the years which I thought was really neat. I just don't have the time or energy to venture into something other than this right now:o
Kimh

[BrendaC]

Kimh,
That's what I want to do for my son. He'll be a senior next year. I've saved his little league and peewee football shirts. I don't quilt, I was going to pay someone else to do it for me. We live around the amish so they may do something like that.
Brenda

[NMarti]

Rusty
That is a beauty! I went to a quilt show a couple of years ago and saw one there too and was blown away with the work and detail in it.

[Tina_B]

I am not a quilter but have printed photos on fabric for a friend that quilts. It is a easy process to do and you can even make your own fabirc sheets. One thing that I have seen with photo quilts is that they fade if you leave them in direct sun. My friend had one hanging in her bedroom and the colors all faded to red. I believe they make a product that you can rinse the photos in after you print them to make them not fade.
Tina

[Cmcburnett]

What an interesting idea. I have never heard of a generation quilt.:rolleyes: My grandmother use to make quilts and sell them for churches and charities but I didn't inherit that gene.

[Rusty]

Gee, I guess Charlotte and I both don't get around much :)

It was totally new to me, including the idea of printing pictures on fabric so they could be used in a quilt. It's obviously a known technique to many of you.

If I had interest in this I would explore Tina's comment about how to try to "fix" the colors.

I thought it was very nice, glad so many of you thought so too. :)

Rusty

PS - my daughter is attempting to talk me into making a T-shirt that says "Chipmunk Catcher Extraordinaire" with, of course, an appropriate image :D

[pixlbandit]

There are specially coated/prepaired fabrics to print on with inkjet printers. Newer products are better than older ones (just as are inkjet printers and inks). One could also print on t-shirt transfers and iron the the printed transfer onto a white or light-colored fabric to then be sewn into the quilt (or garment).

Here is one kind of fabric:
http://www.electricquilt.com/Shop/Printing/Fabric.asp

Jacquard also makes/coats polyester and silk fabrics that can be printed upon. Jacquard is a well-known maker of fabric dyes and paints, so it should be of good quality. I can't speak from personal experience, but a lot of reading of quilt and fiber-art jounals, magazines and books.

Vicki

[Cmcburnett]

Gee, I guess Charlotte and I both don't get around much :) :D

Rusty, looking at your past posts and photos I think you've gotten out a lot more than I have:D