Quilter's Fun and a Question of Choosing

If you don't already know about Michele's Quiltering Gallery, you should.  It is an amazing resource. I  found it while looking for local quilters.  She has literally thousands of links to quilting bloggers sorted by location.  I have found many new friends browsing through that section.

She also has a section called Quilter's Fun.  It has quilt-a-longs, swaps and the Weekly Themed Contests.  I love to join in the contests.  It is absolutely amazing to see the skill and creativity that are represented by the quilts that are entered. 

This week the theme is Embroidery/Stitchery.  I decided to enter my first embroidered, stitched quilt.  It is this Slime Mold quilt from the 2011 Mini Art Quilt Swap.  I LOVED making this quilt.






I love entering Michele's contests.  I don't have any expectation of ever winning.  My goal is to break into double digit percentages!   What I really enjoy is thinking about which quilt best fits the theme.  I spent some time today looking at images of quilts I have made that fit into the theme of embroidery/stitchery.  I actually had quilt a few that met the requirement.  Even looking at some of the ones that didn't, I could see how adding some stitching would enhance them. It is fun for me to imagine new quilts or re-imagine old works to fit the weekly theme. 





The one thing I really struggle with is choosing an image for the thumbnail that will accurately represent my work.  Is it better to show a long shot of the whole piece, an artful staging or closeup of the details most relevant to the theme?  I never really know how to choose so I usually pick my favorite picture and hope that it appeals to others. 




I like to think I am getting better at taking photos of my quilts, but it is a real struggle for me.  I am working between a small Nikon and an unwieldy Kodak.  I'd love to get a better camera but that isn't in the cards at the moment.  What I really need to do is work on lighting and staging.  That will work for future projects, but I am stuck with the limited photos I have of the projects that have long since sailed off to their new owners.  Like this wee quilt.  I am stuck trying to enhance what I have.



So...  how do you choose the images that represent your quilt on-line?  Are there 'tricks' or staging ideas that work better than others?  Do the quilt photo police have rules?  (I can't say I'd follow them, but it would be nice to know which ones I'm breaking.)  Let me know in the comments.  And in the meantime, be sure to check out all the cool quilts and features on Michele's Quilting Gallery.