Landscape Quilt

Hi everyone. It has been a while since I have posted, so you are going to get a lot of me today. This is from the landscape wuilt class I took at the Quilt Festival. The first photo is one I took of my sister, below is the quilt I made from it.

I wanted to share the how-to so that you can make one, if you wish. It is very easy, and makes a great gift. Mine is still not finished. All I need to do is the binding, once I find something I like, and when you do the binding you need to also sew on a fold or "tunnel" of fabric, from which to hang it. The end size is the size of a fat quarter.

How-to:

• Gather all of the fabrics to make your picture. It is important to get a sky (if you have one) something for the base layer (I used a print with foliage because I had no sky in mine), and any other of the most important layers (horizon, lake, mountains, etc.). Then gather bits of fabric to make the other images in your picture you want there. For example, I found fabric with a park bench on it which fit in perfectly with the picture, and I also took out my sister. :) It is important to simplify - take out anything unnecessary or anything that distracts from the main reason you chose the picture. I took our my sister, because the reason I chose this one is obviously because of the beautiful blossoming cherry trees. However, thanks to Kallan, you know you can print pictures onto printable fabric, cut out your subject and glue them in. Also, there are many batiks that are wondrful for creating the natural environment: rocks, trees, water, etc.
  
• Other supplies: acid free glue stick, clear thread (or color of your choice for quilting), scissors, tracing paper and pencil, an 8x10 color print of your image and a 16x20 black and white print.
  
• Cut out your shapes. Trace your main images from your 16x 20 onto paper, cut out and then use your pattern to cut the image out of your fabric. For instance, if you have a mountain horizon, trace the shape onto paper, cut out then place it onto your mountain fabric, cut, and glue onto your base layer. Continue until you have replicated your picture. Pin onto your batting and the fabric for the back of the quilt.
  
• Quilt. Quilting it with the clear thread is helpful because your thread will not take away from your picture. Or, use your thread to enhance your picture. For example, if you have a sky, you can use a blue fabric and then quilt in shapes of clouds to give that effect. This is also a good way to do water.
• Bind and add some sort of loop for hanging.

Please take a moment to check out my teacher's site. That way you can get a feel for how beautiful they can be.