Inspiration

Over the winter break I researched alchemy and mysticism for potential inspiration. I also continued my research into pictorial and story quilts. 

Below are some images I found interesting. 

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.

Shadow test

I’m working on perfecting this technique. This test was to determine if this type of method could work in my quilt.

User Testing for Display Options

After this round of testing, I realize that a hanging quilt will work best.

Thanks to Steve, Matt, and Kerry Willig, Amelia Wolfe and John.

Notes on story and display

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.

Grants?

I’ve been looking into different grants. Through my research on materials, it is becoming clear how expensive this project will be. I am looking for grant money from an organization that is concerned with folk preservation.

So far, the New York Folklore Society is looking most promising but I plan on focusing more on this in the weeks to come.

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.

Experiment 2

A big part of my second formal thesis experiment, was to create a simulation of ways the quilt may reveal narrative elements. I projected this simulation on a white sheet and asked a few friends for feedback. Clicking on a black square in the border (with the exception of the top square) will reveal a detail of the narrative. In some instances this reveals information that will help the viewer to better understand the surface narrative. Other instances reveal alternate plots from different versions of the ballad.

The image below is a link that will open up the simulation in a new browser window. You will need Flash Player to view it.

Thanks to Kristin Scherrer and Marie Burrage.

Experiment 1