AI'ed Art Quilts

 

Gemini AIed image

So I did a thing ...  I tried Google's AI tool Gemini to see what it would come up with for one of the ideas I had for the Quilt Jam prompt for the Fly-In Quilt Show this summer.

I asked it to "create an art quilt based on John Hiatt's song "Thank you, Girl" featuring a dog."  Yes, I always thought that song might be about a faithful companion vs a girlfriend / sweetie.

This is what it came up with:

 

Gemini AIed image  

[Janna -- Is that Charlie-Girl?] 

It pays to be specific, so with a few extra revisions to the prompt, I got this:

 

Gemini AIed image 

I have had several beloved Newfies,   and although I like what it did with the highlights on this Newfs fur.  Black dogs are really hard to illustrate or photograph!  I also appreciate the free-motion quilting lines in the background.  In the end, the proportions on this image are not quite right for a Newf ...

So I tried one more revised prompt requesting a Golden, and got the image at the top of this post, which seems to work a little better.   My first thought for this idea involved a Golden ...  though I would not have included the musical notes, or the wreath, I do like the title text.   

I'm not saying I will ever make these in real life, it was helpful for brainstorming and idea generation.  And it was certainly instructive in that I can recognize AI'ed art quilts now.  They seem to use the same palette for colors and textures.  They all look the same somehow (not just these) -- Too good to be true fabric and stitch.

Someone recently sent me a Temu-like link for a shop that sold "art quilts."  When I saw it, they were fantastic -- impressive, but they didn't quite look right to me either ...  Sure enough, they were AIed.   I'm also pretty sure that if you purchased one of them, it would come printed on a shitty polyester fabric optimized for printing, not a quilt at all.   Reddit post about these scams.

I know enough now NOT to order anything advertised on  Facebook, because most of those things are not in real life what you see in the pictures.  Some things I had to learn the hard way.  Sigh!

If it's looks too good to be real, it might be AI.  In the end, I have another REAL idea for my Quilt Jam Challenge ...  Stay Tuned! 

Quilts Inspired by Songs and Music

The challenge for the 2026 Fly-In Quilt Show this summer is "Quilt Jam," where we're supposed to create a quilt based on a song.  It has to be a new one, not something we've already made.

Looking back, I'm a little surprised at all the quilts I've made that have been based on songs.  Songs / Music are wonderful inspiration for quilts!

Most notably, the John Hiatt Stolen Moments Series:

Mama Let You Lick the Spoon

Read more about the making of this quilt.

Based on John Hiatt's song, Angel.

 

Spark in the Back of my Mind

Read more about the making of this quilt.

Based on John Hiatt's song, Back of My Mind. 

 

 

 Northern Lights / Rivers of Light

Read more about the making of this quilt.  

Based on John Hiatt's song, Seven Little Indians.

There are a few more Hiatt-inspired quilts that are still in the works! 

But there are others ... 

 

Eddie Vedder' Tattoed Everything (Black)

For this challenge, I am mulling over the possibilities, collecting songs -- hearing and seeing songs in whole new ways in light of this challenge!   Stay tuned!

Purple Socks

I finished this purple pair of socks.  It took about a year-and-a-half from start to finish these.  I started them on a trip to Idaho to see Janna and usually only worked on them when I was traveling, waiting in airports or on planes ...  or it was too cold to be upstairs working on other projects.  It's a good thing to do by the fire in the evenings.

 

The purples don't quite match.  I think I knitted 2 balls of wool yarn into 1 tube and then dyed it in the crockpot in the hopes that the color and patterning would match better than it did.  Instead, I think there was an inside and an outside to the knitted item, and the outside sucked up more color.  Hence the darker and lighter shades for each respective foot.  The yarn is Chic Sheep which I bought a few years ago ...  It makes a thicker sock -- more like a cabin or a boot sock.  Great for slippers, too. They are too thick to wear in my regular shoes.

I used the larger oval sock knitting looms from CinD Wood.  It has a few more pegs than the ones I was using previously (These are 1/4 inch with 60? pegs).  I thought I might tun out of yarn sooner because of the extra stitches with every round.  But it all worked out just fine.  They are a little roomier than previous socks, so I'm hoping they will snug up once I do the wet-finishing. 

 

 

   

  

  

 

The Potato-Faced Blind Man with his Gold Accordian

 

Accordion player in Lyon, France - 2022

Waterlogued (App)  

 

We have long been fans of Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories.   This was a favorite when my kid was young.  This image reminded me of one of those memoriable stories--as if this busker was dressing for the part!

Rootabaga Stories
by Carl Sandburg

The Potato Face Blind Man Who Lost the Diamond Rabbit on His Gold Accordion

from WikiSource 

The Potato Face Blind Man Who Lost the Diamond Rabbit on His Gold Accordion

There was a Potato Face Blind Man used to play an accordion on the Main Street corner nearest the postoffice in the Village of Liver-and-Onions.

Any Ice Today came along and said, "It looks like it used to be an 18 carat gold accordion with rich pawnshop diamonds in it; it looks like it used to be a grand accordion once and not so grand now."

"Oh, yes, oh, yes, it was gold all over on the outside," said the Potato Face Blind Man, "and there was a diamond rabbit next to the handles on each side, two diamond rabbits."

"How do you mean diamond rabbits?" Any Ice Today asked.

"Ears, legs, head, feet, ribs, tail, all fixed out in diamonds to make a nice rabbit with his diamond chin on his diamond toenails. When I play good pieces so people cry hearing my accordion music, then I put my fingers over and feel of the rabbit's diamond chin on his diamond toenails, 'Attaboy, li'l bunny, attaboy, li'l bunny.'"

"Yes I hear you talking but it is like dream talking. I wonder why your accordion looks like somebody stole it and took it to a pawnshop and took it out and somebody stole it again and took it to a pawnshop and took it out and somebody stole it again. And they kept on stealing it and taking it out of the pawnshop and stealing it again till the gold wore off so it looks like a used-to-be-yesterday."

"Oh, yes, o-h, y-e-s, you are right. It is not like the accordion it used to be. It knows more knowledge than it used to know just the same as this Potato Face Blind Man knows more knowledge than he used to know."

"Tell me about it," said Any Ice Today.

"It is simple. If a blind man plays an accordion on the street to make people cry it makes them sad and when they are sad the gold goes away off the accordion. And if a blind man goes to sleep because his music is full of sleepy songs like the long wind in a sleepy valley, then while the blind man is sleeping the diamonds in the diamond rabbit all go away. I play a sleepy song and go to sleep and I wake up and the diamond ear of the diamond rabbit is gone. I play another sleepy song and go to sleep and wake up and the diamond tail of the diamond rabbit is gone. After a while all the diamond rabbits are gone, even the diamond chin sitting on the diamond toenails of the rabbits next to the handles of the accordion, even those are gone."

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Any Ice Today.

"I do it myself," said the Potato Face Blind Man. "If I am too sorry I just play the sleepy song of the long wind going up the sleepy valleys. And that carries me away where I have time and money to dream about the new wonderful accordions and post offices where everybody that gets a letter and everybody that don't get a letter stops and remembers the Potato Face Blind Man."

 

 

Here is my original photo. 

Color in the Dye Pot: Sky Blue and Evergreen

Evergreen and Sky Blue on wool yarn

I am nearing the end of knitting another pair of socks, and looking ahead to the next project -- and it occurred to me that I needed to dye some more wool yarn for that.

What colors?  Blue and Grape?  Black Cherry and Red Wine (Merlot)?  Evergreen?

All staple colors for me. but I went with sky blue and evergreen this time.

I am using Procion Dye.  You can't use the activator because it will damage the wool, so instead, I use vinegar and heat to make the dye colorfast.  Dharma has instructions on their website.

 

I started with 4 balls of yarn, tied into old onion skin net bags so they will stay a little compacted (not too tight).  The bags also keep them from unravelling in the pot and becoming a  giant tangle.  A trouser sock or nylon sock would also work to hold the ball together, and also act as a partial resist to help with thaqt gradient effect.

I am using my favorite sock yarn wool for dying: Chic Sheep merino wool yarn from my stash.  I don't think it's available anymore for purchase, so I'll have to find a substitute in future.    These are all the same white / lace colore to start with, even though the lighting and net bags make them all look different in the photo above.

 I soaked the white balls of yarn in water ahead of time, as the pots of water were warming up to just below a simmer.  This helps the balls to take up the dye more evenly.  In actuality, I was looking for a more mottled / gradient look, with some variation through the ball.  In that case, I should have just prepared the dye bath and tossed in the dry balls of netted yarn.

To prepare the dye bath:

Heat a pot of water to just below simmering.  Because this is wool, you don't want it to boil or you'll have felt.

I was using old Procion dyes.  Using Dharma's instructions for Procion Dye on wool (no soda ash, as it can destroy the protein fibers).   I sized it for roughly 1/2 pound of fiber, or 2 balls of merino wool yarn, each at 100 grams.

In the Dye Pot,
1-1/2 T salt
1/3 cup white vinegar
Enough water to cover / submerge the balls of yarn.
Heat this until it gets just ready to simmer.

For the dye concentrates, I mixed up
1 tsp dye powder with
about 2 cups warm water.
1 put that in a plastic bottle with a tight-fitting cap, so I could shake it up until the dye powder was completely dissolved.

Once the dye pot was hot enough (just ready to simmer, not boil), I removed the yarn balls, I added the salt and vinegar, then the dye concentrate. Stir that up.

Then add the balls of yarn.  Let them simmer until the dye has moved from the water into the yarn. 

For the blue, you may need to add more vinegar as that encourages the uptake of the blue dye. 

 

I let them simmer for about 2 hours.  Then then turn off the heat, and let them cool completely.  Then I dumped the dye water, squeezed out the balls and rinsed them in new water, letting them soak overnight.  I repeated this rinse process until the water ran clear. 

Then I squeezed out the balls (still in the net bags) and hung them by the fire to dry for a few days.  From past experience, it's difficult to unravel a wet ball of yarn, so  be patient and let them dry. It may take a few days, but that's ok.

 

The dry dyed yarn balls -- un-netted. 

  

The next step is to wind the dyed balls onto a niddy-noddy to make skeins.  

  

This allows you to see what you have as far as color gradients, etc. 

 

 

 

Notes: Again, it's been a long time since I dyed yarn, so I forgot --  the measurements for dye were a little less because I wanted the mottling.  But I forgot that tiny detail, and added a bit more dye,, and dumped in the entire 2 cup bottles, which gave more even coverage of the dye all through the balls of yarn. 

I should have looked back at this post: More Kettle-Dyed Yarn : Green, Blue, and Stormy Skies as this was more of the effect I was after.