Landscape quilt - large area without quilting
 

I'm doing a landscape quilt from a photo that has a perfectly blue clear sky. I would like to not have any quilting in the sky area because I don't want to take away the look of that clear, clear sky. Would anyone have a suggestion about how I can get the sky fabric so that it will remain smooth, and not have wrinkles in it. The sky area is about 30" wide x 9 " high. I was thinking about fusing something to it, but I'm not sure what would work best.
Thanks for any advice!

is this going to be a wall hanging or a bed (usable) quilt?
if it's a wallhanging it is not a problem- you can use a fusable & not wash the quilt- if it is going to be a bed/used quilt that is a whole new matter- if you plan to use batting the largest area that can go unquilted (using warm & natural or like batting) is 10"...otherwise you run the risk of the batting separating & balling up- creating areas of no batting & other areas of balls of batting.
you could use a (pre-washed) flannel or layer of fabric in place of batting- but using batting that large an area will have to be quilted if the project is ever to be laundered.

This is for a wall hanging; it will not be laundered. What type of fusible would you recommend? Like fusible web, or fusible batting? Or just a fusible interfacing.

Even wall hangings need to be laundered. I would quilt it and I do a large stipple. I don't trust any batting enough to go any further apart than 3-4".

You might have to experiment to see how the end result looks .... do a minimum of quilting on it then after quilting, fuse your fabric choice over the quilting. I suspect that unless you use a fairly thick fusable and fabric ... the quilted lines will still show through even slightly.

An organza overlay (not fused ... just laid over it) might hide any quilted lines and give a nice shimmer effect as well (the shimmer effect overpowering the background and any quilting lines).

I think you have some experimenting ahead of you :)

have you posted the pix..you cut cloud shapes out of freezer paper iron them in place if you like it you can machine or hand quilt around the paper then remove it...I would do a practice piece first. the batting can pull away and slip down...also stitch in the ditch around the quilt...hope this helps you. go for it.

I like this suggestion. Gives you the options to try out several ideas so you can pick the one that appeals the most. I also would not leave this area unquilted.

i have quilted wallhangings that are very very old (one made in 1883) that have never been laundered...they are dusted, vacuumed, one was spot cleaned once...never laundered

(This is for a wall hanging; it will not be laundered. What type of fusible would you recommend? Like fusible web, or fusible batting? Or just a fusible interfacing)
there are a number of choices- heat n bond makes a fairly heavy weight no-sew fusable that remains quite (crisp) firm- if you want to fuse to a backing- a pellon medium or heavy weight stablizer would also work- if you want it to have some (soft-loft) to it a fusable fleece type interfacing may be a good choice- giving body but not needing to be quilted. Joannes (type stores) carry all of these options-

You can buy beautiful sky fabrics

An idea--Consider lines of quilting across the sky to suggest wind. In my mind's eye, they're gentle curves, in varying lengths, with varying spaces between them. Thread would match the sky, maybe silk or rayon--or maybe invisible thread. You would sketch out on paper what looks good to you, then transfer. Hand quilting would be very subtle.

Here is some landscape eye candy from a woman in our guild! I have no desire to make a landscape wallhanging, but I am in awe of her work. www.gilgenart.com

How about hand quilting the sky from the back, and only going thru the backing and batting. That way, the batting will be held in place by the quilting thru the backing, and the front would be clear and smooth.

WOW!!! Thanks for the link. She does jaw-droppingly beautiful work. Beyond amazing. A very gifted art quilter indeed. And what inspiration for the OP in quilting her sky.

So, based on what y'all have written, I'm thinking of doing it like this:
-Putting something like fusible web on the back of the sky (I don't want any stitching or clouds on the sky).
-Quilting the batting to the backing on the sky portion
-Then basting the layers together, and quilting the rest of the wall hanging
As cad_queen_2000 pointed out, that would take care of any problems with the batting, and keep the sky smooth and flat. I'll have to do some experimenting, but that will be my starting point.
Please let me know if you have some more advice...I love this board!

You can quilt the texture of the wind and clouds on whatever sky fabric you use. You don't have to quilt it densely, just enough to give the effect you want.

Even my small wall hangings get washed. You never know what will happen later on.

ali

I do landscape quilts, also. I have done, what someone here suggested, light movement lines in the sky to suggest wind currents. I have felt that it enhanced the sky. A large piece of fabric can end up looking like.... a large piece of fabric. Yours could also, perhaps because of the fabric you are using, end up looking absolutely stunning. Since we can't see what you are doing, it is hard to give advice. I also have added eagles painstakingly appliqued. Or, in smaller, closer pictures, butterlys with loose wings.

Have it in your head how you are going to hang this quilt when you are done. I made one that was large, but could not have a proper hanging sleeve because it would ruin the "perfect" patterns in the sky. I had to attach the sleeve to the bottom of the binding at the top of the quilt! If I have it in a show (and I intend to) I'll have to have a sleeve that shows above the quilt!

I'm eager to see your quilt when you are done. Isn't landscape quilting fun!? Happy quilting!!!

You could quilt lines in which would show air moving across the sky--which it always does. The Japanese are really good at showing water moving as well as air movement in their quilts. Good luck on whatever you decide to do, but I do think that such a wide expanse of unquilted fabric would not hold up at all.

I would use a very heavy iron-on interfacing. Heaviest you can get. I've used it in place mats and it was very successful.

I would just quilt a few clouds or the one line birds in it. You could barely see them and it would assure the integrity of the quilt.

If it is a wall hanging, I would humbly suggest Misty Fuse...the least stiff fusing I've found. Picked some up at the booth at the Houston quilt show last year and it works like a dream-strong, yet very pliable and soft. For reference, it comes in white or black.

This was my first thought. I also liked this idea: An organza overlay (not fused ... just laid over it) might hide any quilted lines and give a nice shimmer effect as well (the shimmer effect overpowering the background and any quilting lines) from DogHouseMom.

I put tulle on top of mine before quilting

Have you given any thought to invisible thread if it needs quilting. Maybe a few wavy lines going horizontal with invisible thread? So you don't lose your sky affect. What ever you decide I'm sure it will turn out great!! There is some really awesome sky fabric all over online!

could you embroidery a couple birds on the sky?

Quilt some cloudy shaped things with the same back and forth stitches that you would do in water.

I use Misty fuse front and back to the batting.