After exposure, development and drying, the image becomes a 'metamorphogram', a cyanotype which was exposed in one form but visualised as another.

Metamorphograms are both subject and object. It takes a picture of itself as a tato. Unfolding reveals that picture.

Layers in the paper become shades of blue and white

THREAD 2/x

#origami #cyanotype #metamorphogram #blueprint #tato #quilt #PaperFolding #PaperNegative #tissuepaper #octagon #geometric #quilting #sashiko

You can use tissue paper cyanotypes as paper negatives to print from.

You can also speed up the exposure time a little by doing what Victorian photographers used to do with their paper negatives.

You can oil it.

This gives it a bit more transparency, as you can ... ahem... clearly see.

THREAD 3/x

#origami #cyanotype #transparent #metamorphogram #blueprint #tato #quilt #PaperFolding #PaperNegative #tissuepaper #octagon #geometric #quilting #sashiko
#CameralessPhotography

Now all you need is some cyanotype coated fabric.

I used squares of cotton cut slightly larger than the image. This gives room for seams.

Put the negative on the fabric, squeeze everything together (I used a contact frame) and expose in the sun.

THREAD 4/x

#origami #cyanotype #transparent #metamorphogram #blueprint #tato #quilt #PaperFolding #PaperNegative #tissuepaper #octagon #geometric #quilting #sashiko #CameralessPhotography

After you've exposed the print, wash the fabric well.

You get (somewhat obviously) a negative version - or should that be a positive version? - of the original cyanotype.

Now, repeat until you have the required number of printed fabric pieces.

Two prints shown here.

I used 9 for a 3x3 quilt.

THREAD 5/x

#origami #cyanotype #transparent #metamorphogram #blueprint #tato #quilt #PaperFolding #PaperNegative #tissuepaper #octagon #geometric #quilting #sashiko
#CameralessPhotography

As I've shown previously, you can also use cyanotype to custom dye some thread.

For this quilt, we used a mix of plain white, speckled blue, and full blue threads.

THREAD 6/x

#origami #cyanotype #transparent #metamorphogram #blueprint #tato #quilt #PaperFolding #PaperNegative #tissuepaper #octagon #geometric #quilting #sashiko
#CameralessPhotography

Using your sewing skills (or, in this case, with the collaboration of someone far more skilled than myself), the 9 cyanotype panels were joined together.

Cotton batting and a white rear panel were tacked in place.

To join the front and rear, lines of the pattern were picked out in hand-stiched sashiko...

THREAD 7/x

#origami #cyanotype #transparent #metamorphogram #blueprint #tato #quilt #PaperFolding #PaperNegative #tissuepaper #octagon #geometric #quilting #sashiko
#CameralessPhotography