For Beginning Quilters: Choosing The Right Fabrics For A Winter Landscape Quilt

If you are new to the world of quilting, making a landscape quilt can be a little intimidating. While landscape quilts featuring a lot of floral and foliage elements are better left for more experienced quilters, a winter landscape quilt is a perfect project for beginners.

Reproducing the beauty of nature is at the heart of landscape quilting. Dramatic and beautiful, a winter scene requires few fabrics but will provide you with plenty of experience working with contrasting fabrics.

Pick a picture

Choose a picture of a winter scene you find attractive before you head to the fabric store. Do you have a favorite winter view from your home or a photo you took of a winter landscape while on vacation? If not, you can use a picture from a magazine or search for one online. Having a picture handy will help you get a visual idea of what fabrics to look for to recreate the scene.

Background fabric

You will need at least two main background fabrics for a winter scene quilt. You should select a gray color to convey a winter sky. Look for fabric that is hand-dyed and has a mottled texture. This will help you create the look of a cloudy sky on a snowy day.

To represent snow, it is best to choose a bright white fabric rather than a cream colored fabric. However, you should avoid a solid white color. Look for a fabric with some texture that could resemble snow drifts and shadows.

If you are unable to find a white fabric with texture, you can purchase a light gray fabric marker to add some highlights if desired. You should purchase at least one yard of each background fabric.

Tree fabric

Choose a dark fabric for the tree trunks and branches. A black fabric will contrast well with the light gray and white background fabrics. You can use the same color for all the trees in your winter landscape quilt. A half a yard of fabric will be enough to create several trees in varying sizes throughout your landscape design.

Leaf fabric

A small amount of gold leaf fabric to represent dead leaves will add just a splash of color to your winter scene. You will use leaves sparingly in the landscape scene, so you will only need a small amount of this fabric. A fat quarter should be more than enough.

If you can't locate leaf fabric, you can use plain gold fabric to cut your leaves from. Just make sure you avoid bright or shiny gold fabrics. A medium gold or dull yellow will look more realistic.

Following a trip to a fabric store like Brandt's Interiors & Workroom, you will be prepared to begin your quilting project. Like an artist, you will be thrilled as you watch a beautiful winter landscape come to life from a plain canvas of fabric.