#11 OF 16 | STITCH UP THE SKY | Quilt a Nighttime Landscape | Zazu's Stitch Art

PLEASE NOTE: If it is 7-8-2022 or after, my website no longer exists. Any patterns or PDF printouts mentioned in this video are no longer available. Sorry for any inconvenience. Currently I am still on Facebook:   / zazusstitchart  
and here on YouTube:    / zazusstitchart  

QUILT A NIGHTTIME LANDSCAPE PLAYLIST:    • Quilt a Nighttime Landscape  

"You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." —Maya Angelou

OVERVIEW
Stitching the sky can be as easy or as complicated as you want. Our ace in the hole is that free-motion quilting is beautiful. In the video I show how I did both of mine and why. I do have a few general tips to keep in mind here, as well as a few others in the video.
Contrasting thread choices...because they draw attention.
Variegated thread adds visual depth and movement. I use solid colors 25% of the time.
White space lets the eye rest, which is a relief. If every part of your design is screaming for attention, it can make viewers feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Let some areas of your quilt recede into the background.
Choose the best thread you can afford. When I started selling my work, running out of thread was a constant occurrence. I started buying large spools of quilting thread, mostly cotton, in several variegated and solid colors whenever it was half off at the local chain. Each time I would spend $100 or more to stock up. There is a theory that polyester thread can essentially cut through cotton fabric over time. I guess I have doubted that this will happen in the time that my artwork will stay on the wall. So at some point I started quilting with a lot of polyester thread, both variegated serger thread and all-purpose cotton covered polyester. At the same time, I used metallic, rayon, and monofilament threads less and less. In fact today I have avoided monofilament thread for years because it has been known to melt, and I press my quilts with steam from the back before both binding and hanging. 
I'll sew anything into or onto an art quilt if it works for me visually and technically. While I have read many books on quilting, garment sewing is still my touchstone when it comes to fiber work, even though I quilt a lot. I've been known to say that I quilt, but I am not really a quilter. When I call myself a quilter, it is usually to help someone else understand my place in the whole realm of needle-related activities...
I always expect you to do what is right for you.
0:00 Intro. I plan to stitch the whole sky. 
1:31 We can make the sky as simple or as complicated as we want.
2:10 Our eyes really do like white space, a place to rest.
2:35 Five areas: sun, dark blue sky, pink, light blue, trees. Plus reflection.
3:32 Planning my overlap.
5:20 Sometimes I take a picture of my thread plan.
5:26 Pink scrolls with orange stipple. Poking through fabric to trim a hole.
9:30 More peacock feathers, and using a preset stitch to wiggle your line.
9:58 Painter's tape for small scraps.
10:41 Lemon slices
11:02 Seven white flowers.
11:33 Doubt and stitching blue cell walls between the pink and dark blue.
12:18 Pull a knot through a 14 needle, and orange above the horizon.
13:29 Variegated pink thread.
14:30 THE MINI: A few trees and bushes, which I'll cover next lesson. Blue thread. White thread. Orange thread. Yellow.
Ask Questions. Comment. Participate. Have Fun.

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