Post No. 1 about Making Landscapes

Friends ask me about how I make landscapes. First I have to say that I have studied everyone out there who has specialized in making landscapes. Second, I have followed those that seem to fit my personality! I'm not into intricate piecing like Cynthia England or Ruth McDowell, although they do wonderful pieces. I'm much too impatient and I work kind of intuitively as I go.

Specifically, I fell in love with the work of Natalie Sewell of Wisconsin because her technique uses raw edges, ragged cutting, and intuitive designing. Her work gave me confirmation that my way was ok! (See http://www.nataliesewell.com/)

So if you want to do landscapes, first I would say--assess how you like to work. Do you like to plan and do intricate piecing or designs, or are you more impatient? You may do like I have done--that is, try some of each and let time determine what you like to do.

My best suggestion for starting is: get something for your inspiration. In the quilt above, my inspiration was the background batik forming the sky. I really liked the combination of the cool and warm colors in it. Deliberately, I put it on my planning wall and looked at it for two weeks, thinking what I could do with it. I almost took it down, but told myself, no, this is a challenge to myself and I'm going to figure out something to do with it. It wasn't long after that that I had the concept of a cool morning in a marsh when you have the bright sun coming up but still all the dark colors in contrast. It was kind of that yin/yang thing. It's amazing what your subconscious will come up with, when you give it an order. This piece wound up winning 1st in the Miniature Category in the South Bay Quilt Guild Show in 1999.

Your inspiration could be a picture that you want to create, a fabric that you love, or maybe a pattern that you purchase. With a pattern, you will learn some specific techniques that the author has perfected. There are a variety of techniques you can use in making landscapes and learning a few of them will help you along the way.

Everyone starts somewhere so make the decision: "I'm going to make a landscape."