A Special Sunset Art Quilt

I take a lot of photos of sunsets and sunrises because I like creating art quilts from these photos.  I also take screen shots of outstanding sunsets from Facebook friends and save them from Pinterest.  Sunset 80 was from a friend’s photo taken in Alaska.  I was enchanted by the peaches and darker pinks/maroons of the sky with the dark gray blue of clouds.  I was also intrigued by the lightness of the water, as if the light was still radiating from the sun from below the horizon.

Often people want sunset quilts with the typical bright yellow and dark blue sky.  In reality, the sunsets I see in the Pennsylvania and New York, places I live or visit, are often more these colors, most colorful after the sun has dropped below the horizon.  I live on a hill and the most outstanding sunsets are when the pink in the sky appears around all 360 degrees of the horizon, blending together as if the sun set all the way around the earth. 

I tried some different quilt stitching on Sunset 80 for the water to differentiate it from the surrounding landscape.  I also quilted the background hills heavily to add some texture.  Finally, you will need to look closely at the dark navy blue at the bottom to see some stitching which was just for fun.

I love all these colors in the night sky.  I love the lighter blues or even creams as in this quilt, often in the high sky just after the sun has dropped below the horizon and is still shedding light way up there.  I know there are crazy colorful sunsets some nights but I like these gentler colors.  Who knew Alaska sunsets could be so similar to my central Pennsylvania sunsets.

I’ve included the original photo for you to see how I translate from photo to art quilt.