Yesterday Eli and I flew to New York. He will go on to Israel today; I will remain in Renee's empty apartment for another 10 days, then visit with Renee for a couple of days after she returns. We flew into JFK and took Airtrain and the subway into the city, which worked well. Unfortunately, I could never do it alone. There are just too many stairs. I would have a terrible time wrestling my bag up and down, even though it's quite small. Unlike Japan, where there is almost always a clearly marked escalator or elevator, the MTA believes all of its passengers need exercise.
I brought my photo transfers with me, particularly to work on during my train ride home, you know, the nine and a half hour Toonerville trolley ride. I thought I had something I liked, but now I'm thinking this will only be practice and I'll start all over again when I get home. It's a good thing the obi is 18 feet long, so I have lots of fabric to practice on.
I made the second transfer on paper using Liquitex Matte Medium. With this technique you let everything dry thoroughly then wet the back of the paper and carefully rub it off. I began the process Thursday night and didn't like it at all. Too much of the ink comes off with the paper, leaving only a faint image. I had trouble spreading the medium and felt that was the problem, so I went to an art supply store to see what else I might use. I was going to buy some kind of gel medium. The sales clerk and another woman in the store advised me that the best way to make the transfer was to get photo transfer paper.
I didn't want white showing in the photo background so I Photoshopped the photo with a gray background almost matching the obi fabric and trimmed the white border before ironing the transfer to adhere it. I seemed to have burned one spot on the background, didn't have a good technique for pulling the paper off, getting some funny marks, and tried to iron it from the back, accidentally removing a couple of bits of transfer. The thing that really bothers me is the burn mark. Also I hate the way it feels. I'll see how the stitching goes; maybe I can figure out some way to disguise the burn mark. There's always more obi fabric.
100 Books Before I Die 
I have that same complaint about the MTA. Don’t they have some kind of federal obligation to people with special needs? Or have I been too spoiled?
Mage, Only if you can afford the taxis. I do take them occasionally, but the subway is my vehicle of choice so long as I’m not schlepping a heavy bag.
I tried stitching on the photo transfer. The needle was able to pierce it easily so that was good. You are correct about the feel not mattering on a book cover. It was more about the pleasure of working on it.
Yes, it is now stiff and rough. But on a book cover, will this matter? Even with other mediums, such as silk screen, the medium is thick and awkward to the feel. I sure feel that you are on the right track tho.
When making blocks for the AIDS Quilt, we did use photo transfer paper. In the end, we took photographs to copy shops that put the photos on the fabric for us using their machines. You might look in to that. The colors were “off” when we did it that way, but the fabrics remained fluid.
I do like this discussion……..and too, welcome to New York. Perhaps those of us who don’t climb stairs well are supposed to take taxi’s.