Basketman

I am about to try my hand at making a pictorial quilt of a Venice Italy canal scene and wonder where those of you who make such quilts, find fabrics with a lot of value/hue gradations within the dominant colors chosen. I likely will use batiks along with regular cottons to make for a varied pallet but there must be tricks to discover and fabric resources to find... that give you the varied textures needed to translate a scene into a quilt and achieve some realism.

After hopefully piecing this scene I expect I will further be able to add details the scene with permanent markers or maybe Inktense pencils or are there other ways or materials to do this with that you have used and can redirect my thinking along a better path?

I know there is thread painting but I that is another huge area of expertise and I feel I have already set my sights possibly higher than my level of talent. Anything you can toss out for me to consider, regardless of how basic you might feel it might be, would be appreciated. I will take everything you offer and digest it all and hopefully in the not so distant future I will post my meager efforts.



Remember: happiness is a way of travel not a destination

Boston1954

Hello Basketman,
I would say that going with batiks is a good start. My scenic quilts are nothing spectacular, but I have a lot of fun with them. I've done everything from one of my cats surrounded by tulips, to one that I call "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" after the song from the sixties. If you are going for a certain shape, try cutting out that shape in clear plastic and moving it around on top of the fabric.

Tartan

​I wonder if the Stonehedge fabric selection might give you some good choices?

Windblown

Thousand Bolts has Stonehedge and a very good area called quilter's toolbox and designers pallet that have helped me alot. I live in a remote area, so have to a lot of online shopping.

LadyElisabeth

I agree with the idea of batiks, great way to start.

applique

I use a lot of 1895 Batiks.