Computers and Creativity

PSE 8

 

I love to create — to work with my hands and make things like quilts that are pretty and let me be creative.  But I’m also a geek.  I love my computer, my smartphone, the internet, streaming video and all that techy stuff.  So when I can combine these two parts of myself, I am a very happy camper!

I have tried designing quilts with an EQ program.  I had some moderate success with it, but it seems so restrictive.  It kept wanting me to use traditional designs and had fabric samples to plug in that I didn’t like.  And I could work around all of those things, but the program is really written for quilters making more traditional quilts and maybe tweaking them up a bit.  Not really me.

I have used Photoshop Elements for years in one version or another to edit my photographs.  I have looked at using it to edit and modify my photos to use in artquilts and I have not been happy with it.  It’s much easier to use than the full version of Photoshop but I have never taken the time to learn how to use it beyond editing my photos to make prints.

Well, its time to Cowboy Up!  Because now I have this.

Bamboo Fun Tablet

This, my friends, is a Waucom Bamboo Fun Tablet.  AKA my new BFF.

With this, I can draw in Photoshop Elements.  I can design fabric and have it printed by companies like this.  I can use the pen and tablet to select objects in my photos much much much easier and then edit and modify for quilts.  I can draw motifs and print them on fabric with my inkjet printer for quilts.  I can design a quilt and have it printed at a print shop on really wide paper to use as a pattern for an art quilt.

The possibilities are endless!