President's Message & 11 Tips for Photographing Your Quilts

Dear Quilting Colleagues,

March is upon us as the days get longer and the winds get stronger.

This month, Northern Lights Quilt Guild members are encouraging each other to submit a quilt for potential selection for inclusion in an exciting summer exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum. This exhibit will showcase quilts from all of the participating quilt guilds across New England.

This is an incredible opportunity to showcase the talented quiltmakers and artisans in New England and to raise awareness about and interest in quilting – a perfect fit with the NLQG mission. The NE Quilt Museum Guild Exhibit will be open this summer when museum traffic is high. Visitors to the museum will be asked to identify their favorite quilt for a “Peoples’ Choice Award.” The guild, that supported the People’s Choice Award quilt selected, will then be invited to showcase their broader guild’s work at a second special exhibit in 2026.

When I polled the membership interest in participating in this event was high; in less than 48 hours over 50 members responded “yes” to participating in the challenge. Sarah Monego agreed to convene and lead a committee of volunteers, including Mary Waugh, Virginia Umland, and Erin Caricofe. This group is designing a process to allow the guild to select a quilt that will represent us and, that could potentially be a contender for the Peoples’ Choice Award. We hope that we get as many quilts as possible. The quilt choice will need to appeal to a wide audience of museum attendees including both quilters and non-quilters of all ages and stages.

This group is committed to a quilt selection process that is fair, transparent, and allows every guild member to participate. The first step of the NLQG selection process will ask each of you to submit pictures of your best quilt(s) for consideration. Other details regarding submission are published on the NLQG website and elsewhere in this newsletter.

This President’s Message will provide 11 simple techniques, tips, and tricks to improve the quality of your quilt pictures. Whether or not you are interested in submitting quilts for exhibit, using the pictures to catalog in the Quilt Index, or just recording the quilts for posterity, you and your family can treasure pictures forever.

11 Tips & Techniques to Photograph Your Quilts

Tip #1 - Why Are Pictures Important?

Pictures are an important tool to spread your expertise, love, and passion for quilting. There are some photography guidelines typically required for submission to both national and regional quilt shows or quilt indexes. Quilt groups such as the American Quilt Society, Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA), Modern Quilt Society and others use pictures to identify and select a wide variety of unique quilts for their shows in a process called jurying. Our local quilt show, at the Billings Farm Museum, relies on pictures and a quilt story to “jury in” quilts that are a good fit for their exhibit vision. Additionally, quilt pictures from submissions are also often used for other purposes, such as exhibit event publicity materials, print publications, and museum exhibit guides.

Tip #2 - Read and Follow the Instructions Carefully

Typically quilt shows publish a “call to enter” that includes detailed requirements for quilt pictures. Although each show differs slightly there are universal similarities. One of the important rules to identify are the number of photographs needed and the types of shots required / or / recommended. Typically one “head on” shot that includes the entire quilt (including all 4 corners) is required. Commonly a second picture of the back of the quilt is also required. Additionally they may request 1 or 2 other “detail shots” that can showcase fabric,

piecing, or surface design.

Quilt jurors and judges tell us that pictures make or break an entry. They may love your work, but often wish they could see it better. You have invested nearly 100 hours in dreaming, shopping, auditioning fabric, designing, and executing every step of your quilt. Don’t wait until the last minute to obtain and upload your pictures. Taking the time and investing in capturing this beautiful quilt is indeed time well spent.

Tip #3 - Be a Straight Shooter

Although quilts blowing in the wind, or, photographed in the wild are great for social media, for the purposes of quilt contest submissions these artsy shots are discouraged. It is critically important to shoot the quilt straight on, focusing your camera lens at a 90-degree angle to the quilt As you take the picture use your phone or camera features to identify and focus in on the center of your quilt. These two strategies will avoid your quilt looking distorted, wonky, crooked or wavey. Every quilter strives for a “straight” quilt in the making; angled pictures almost always make even arrow straight quilts look a bit off kilter. I suggest taking 10 or 12 pictures, and then you can choose the picture that looks straight and true.

Tip #4 - Avoid Floor Shots

Professional photographers from the American Quilt Society advise us to avoid photographing quilts on the floor as you simply cannot get enough distance between you and quilt. Further, unless you stand on a balcony or ladder, it is challenging to get a straight shot from the top or bottom of quilt that is laying on the floor. The larger the quilt, the more distortion you will see.

Instead of the floor, place your quilt on a curtain rod or a long wooden or metal slat through the sleeve. If possible, have 2 people hold the quilt straight, center your shot, and then use the crop feature on your phone to edit the holders and equipment out of the picture margins.

Tip #5 - Avoid Foreign Objects, Pets, and Kids

Avoid any fingers, hands, feet, toes, or other foreign objects in the picture. No portion of the quilt should be covered. Jurors often want to enlarge the images, check out your corners or examine the beautiful details or surface design of the quilt and will be easily frustrated if they cannot do so. And although we know you love your pets and kids; however, not everyone will.

Save those cozy shots for your personal viewing pleasure.

Tip #6 - Light Matters!

Before snapping pictures of your quilt consider environmental lighting. Light is one of the most critical elements in good pictures. Good lighting helps you capture the true colors, contrast, and texture in textiles and quilts. Natural outdoor lighting breathes life into quilts and is the preferred place to photograph them. Even fabric companies mimic outdoor light as it helps make fabric more appealing to buyers.

Good artists know about the magic of morning light; alternatively the golden hours of early evening are also a great time to shoot quilt pictures. Seek a place with natural diffuse light and avoid distracting backgrounds. Avoid the mid-day sun and/or harsh bright sunshine.

When outdoors, most experts recommend turning off your flash as camera flashes can make the quilt look flat or can sometimes cast a green or yellow hue.

Good light levels reveal the details of the quilting and the quality of the stitch enhancing both the look and “feel” of your quilt. When taking your detail shot to show off the surface design and quilting, position the light source lateral (to the side of) the quilt, so that the light streams across the surface. Adjust the light and angle to get a shot that shows off each of your beautiful stitches.

If you must photograph indoors avoid fluorescent lighting. When shooting inside maximize natural daytime light from large windows. You can also optimize room lighting with multiple lights. Be sure the light levels are adequate because light impacts the shutter speed of your camera. Low light can make your pictures fuzzy, grainy, blurry. Using a tripod to stabilize your phone or camera and avoid blurring may be helpful if shutter speeds are slow. Experiment with some shots with and without the flash and compare shots. Whether taking pictures inside or outside, strive for even lighting across the quilt; avoid “dappled” light as it will mess with the color intensity or saturation of your piece.

Tip #7 - Good Photos = Good Editing

As you shoot your pictures, review them in real-time and adjust as you go. Discard bad shots immediately and curate the good ones. Modern phones allow for editing color and lighting intensity but often they do the work for you and make excellent auto adjustments on their own.

Tip #8 - Use Cropping Features Carefully

Quilt photos may need to be cropped or sized. When sizing your quilt pictures (larger or smaller) be sure to lock the “aspect ratio.” This is the ratio of height to width of the image. Virtually all phones and computer graphics can be enlarged or made smaller proportionally. However, if you fail to lock the aspect ratio, the program will artificially distort your quilt pictures – just like the hall of mirrors in a carnival. Again, don’t be intimidated. If you get stuck ask for help early and often.

Tip #9 - The Bigger the Better!

File Type and Size Most photography specifications request a specific file type - commonly JPG files. Be sure you know how to save the pictures as a JPG file, and that the size of the file is set to large or “high-quality.” Technically this increases the pixel count of the image and higher pixel counts , convey more detailed, accurate and precise images.

WARNING: Many phones automatically save pictures as “low quality” files, to conserve memory. For quilt submissions you will need to reverse this setting to achieve “print quality" pictures. Ask your grandchild, local librarian, the Apple Genius bar, or technical support help desk for your device how to save high-quality jpg files on our particular device.

Another tip is to develop a name for your pictures to allow you to find them when you need them. Often phones also assigns a number to pictures; however, you will want to name your pictures using words that make sense to you. Something like . Butterfly_Quilt_Front_Final, or Butterfly_Quilt_Detail. Adding the word final will help you search for and find the photos on your phone and avoid version confusion.

Tip #10 - Better Together

Getting great quilt pictures can be hard to accomplish alone. That said, it can be a fun time to “meet up”, pair and share, and get another set of eyes and on the quality of your pictures. Take multiple shots of your quilts that fit the specifications. Then collaborate with a friend or guild member, and together you can choose the best pictures for your submission.

As you make your selections ask yourself the question, does this picture convey the quality of the quilt? Have I shown my quilt in the best ambient light possible? Does it compel the viewer to look more closely? Does the picture convey emotion?

Tip #11 - Don’t Forget to Have Fun!

Don’t stress about getting the perfect picture. Quilting should be joyful so make it fun. Even trying one or two tips and tricks can substantially improve the quality of your pictures and help others to enjoy your quilts. With time, intentionality, and practice your pictures will naturally improve and I predict they will give you joy for years to come. If you like to learn by video below are some short, informative resources that may be very helpful for you, and I credit these resources with much of the advice given above. A mentor is someone who believes in you, more than you dare to believe in yourself.

Please know that this guild is not a room full of critics but rather a room full of mentors who believe in you. We look forward to sharing your quilting journey and supporting you every step of the way.

Grateful Always,

Madge E. Buus-Frank

President – Northern Lights Quilt Guild