Unfeasibly excited

Having been a total technical dunce since forever and a day and having made my templates by drawing with pen, tippexing out errors, printing out text, cutting it out and sticking it onto the templates and then photocopying, I made this this morning.  Yes, all my myself.  It's not an actual template for an actual Union Jack block but will be once I've tweaked the measurements.  And will form the basis of my lesson at the Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat in London in June.  


It occurred to me yesterday in a Eureka moment that these days the best and cheapest new software(s) are apps.  So I hunted around and downloaded TouchDraw for iPad for £5.99 and drew this within the first half hour, from a standing start.  I have NEVER used any of this kind of software EVER before EVER, that's how easy this was to use.  So all your appaholics out there, are there any great apps I need to know about?  I'd like one for my macbook which will replace Piknic when that vanishes soon - some kind of photoshop-type programme but not trillions of wonga.  So I can tweak my photos, make mosaics, add text, re-shape them into blog headers, buttons etc.  Just a bit more than what iphoto does really. 

Comments

  1. I do hope that you'll let us know if you find something that works, as that's just what I'm after myself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am intrigued by touch draw for paper piecing templates. I use photoshop elements, £30-40 so quite cheap, a bit of help is needed getting the hang of layers etc but there is a lot of free help online, tutorials etc

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've used Quilt Assist (free download) for drawing paper piecing patterns. I do however have the advantage of using Autocad software everyday at work and can draw and create patterns in various forms

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lynn let us know the outcome. I have been pondering about software for ages but it feels as if it is a bit of a stab in the dark. Di xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Afraid I have a husband for such things!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great question because I want a Piknic replacement too. Must monitor your comments.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have an ancient version of Corel for resizing photos, and of course, my trusty EQ6 for patterns.
    This is a really useful subject.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I play dumb so my geeky hubby will do it for me!! Very excited about your FQ lesson in June.

    ReplyDelete
  9. http://www.squidoo.com/How-to-Picnik follow the link!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well done missus! I'm exploring Adobe Illustrator at the moment for pattern drawing, it's quite fun :o)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well done ;-)
    I use Picasa for 99% of my photo editing. It just doesnt do the rounded corners which I have used piknic for.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I use Picasa too for basic tweaking of pics ...

    But there's a great program called Paint.net which is an open source photoshop a like, which I use a lot ... it's really easy and FREE ... I teach with it ..

    I was never that fussed with Picnik ... it took ages and I don't think it's versatile enough to merit using up my bandwidth ... Anyway, Google say that they're going to be replacing it with something equally good if not better ... so panic not!

    TouchDraw looks fantastic, Lynne - well done you!! .. I hope they release an android version ...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well done! I'll be coming to you for lessons next!

    I second sarah's recommendation of picassa or paint.net. Picassa is brilliant for all the high level polishing type of things, so many features youll never even get around to using and FREE!. Paint.net is a bit more techy, like photoshop, but is fantastic for quick resizing, cropping, colourwork etc, and also FREE!

    But tell me, if you are using a mac, why aren't you using Aperture? I am contemplating buying a mac purely for that program!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lovely as your work is this site will show you how to accurately draw our flag.

    http://www.jdawiseman.com/papers/union-jack/union-jack.html

    ReplyDelete
  15. Indeed, as I said yesterday, there is an app for that?! I hope to check back to see other comments for suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Irfan View. It's free, it's simple and I use it lots.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Interesting info about the app! Thanks for sharing :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Well done!! Does that mean sales of Tippex will plummet?!

    ReplyDelete
  19. with Picasa you can make mosaics, add text, do minor color adjustments. It's a free program. It's how I make all my mosaics. I also use photoshop Elements 9.0 for all my scrapbook making and real photo adjustments.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Can't wait to see your paper piece pattern for the Union Jack. i'm so glad someone has decided to make a paper piece pattern. yeah!!! can't wait to get it. thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  21. app-phobic here! my phone can txt and ring and rarely take pics - as for the pc, yeah - whatever - I think it's my age! Loving all the suggestions :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. So techie. I hope you'll let us know what you come up with!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I would save your and your lovely hubby's money and continue to do it all by hand.

    ReplyDelete
  24. What language was that post written in?

    ReplyDelete
  25. I just decided to spring to photoshop elements and see how it goes. I'm a little concerned about the learning curve but I'll get it eventually. Illustrator is what I really want to get but for that I definitely would want to take a class.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Glad to hear that TouchDraw worked for you! :-) Please don't hesitate to write if you run into any issues or have questions.

    As an FYI (since you mentioned your a Mac user), I just wanted to let you know that we're very close to having a Mac version of TouchDraw done as well. If all goes well we hope to have it available for sale in the Mac App Store in the next 4 to 6 weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Ooh must check that app out. I am a great App lover !

    I had a lot of fun digitising my blighty patterns trying to make sure I had the Union Jack dimensions correct. Not as easy as it first think. http://www.intelligentquilting.com/utility/showProduct/index.cfm?objectID=143&parentkw=506

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi there,

    Don't know anything about the technical stuff so congrats on the design.
    About the Union Jack pattern itself, I believe the two white lines on either side of the diagonal red line are supposed to have different widths:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag

    Beatrice.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comment away peeps :-)