Testing print, fabric, PWM combo

This video shows the steps in building a sample of one of the reactive squares. These squares will be assembled into a completed story quilt.

Nanotec & textiles

Wow, I need all of my clothes to be made out of this material.

Current works of Betsy Garcia

During my time with the Christ Church Sheffield quilt group this weekend, Betsy Garcia showed me some of the other quilt projects she has been working on. 

Below is a picture of a round robin quilt that Betsy has been working on with a few friends. I was particularly interested in the applique shapes on the quilt. Betsy gave me a few tips on applique techniques. It is expected that this quilt will take a total of a year to complete.

Round robin quilt

The below photos are of a hand-made quilt that Betsy is working on for the Hancock Shaker Village. I was particularly interested in the combination of embroidery and applique techniques used on this quilt. 

Tree of life quilt

Tree of life quilt detail

Back of tree of life quilt

Finally, Betsy showed me a quilting sample that she used to teach a three hour quilting class earlier this year. 

Quilting sample

Quilting detail

Threads

 

Conductive Yarns

 

 

I received these sample threads from Bekaert (http://www.bekaert.com/) to experiment with my quilt. I selected these threads based on their resistance levels. I am hoping that some of them could be used in resistive heating applications if I decide to include thermochromic inks in my quilt. At the very least, these will be useful in building the quilts circuitry and will serve as resistors for the LEDs that will be embedded throughout the quilt.

Heating my thermochromic ink

I quickly sewed some copper to the back of one of my thermochromic ink  samples. The copper has a low resistance. In the video I connected the copper to 9v and 5v. The 9v activated the ink too fast. I think 5v will end up working well. More testing is needed where the copper is fixed more permanently to the back of the inked area.

New Materials

I had some samples shipped from Bekaert, manufacturers in innovative textiles. I probably won’t get to use them before the end of this semester but I’m excited to conduct some testing with them.

Reproduction Fabrics

After I told my mom about the Depression era quilt show at the Folk Art Museum, she showed me some quilt squares she made using reproduction fabrics from this period.

Screen print tests

Today I broke out my screen printing materials. I ran some sample prints using both a standard red screen ink and some red to transparent thermochromic ink. I really enjoyed making the prints and a few of them came out pretty well. I tested several different fabric types. For a couple prints I drew a diamond ring in the  the woman’s silouette with a black sharpie and then printed the thermochromic ink on top of it. The ink was not thick enough to cover up the black ink, but I plan on testing this technique again with plain red ink or thread.

Tech tech

I’ve contacted 3M to get some samples of Velostat to use in my soft circuits. Many of the examples I have been viewing on www.instructables.com use this matierial and I’ll surely want to get my hands on some.

I’ve been experimenting with the conductive thread. I’ve sewin with it and gotten a current to pass through it to light an LED. (baby steps)

I have been waiting to receive a shipment of QT113 touch sensors. They just came in today, I plan on working with them throughout the week.

I have also gotten my hands on some static-resistant foam. Lynn mentioned that I can use it to build switches. When compressed, it becomes conductive! I’ll need to try that out too.

CTI inks

I spoke with, Mike Bonatti, a rep from CTI Inks in Colorado Springs today about my project. He answered a few of my questions about their products and to help me select a sample pigment to build some prototypes with. I selected a silkscreen pigment that changes from blue to clear when the material reaches 31 degrees C. This threshold should be appropriate since it is warmer that room temperature but will not need to be heated too much. It is a concern that the heating of the fabric could potentially burn the quilt.