Venetian Gothic Ceiling Beams - Craft Fabric

The sixth design of the Venetian Gothic quilt fabric collection is ceiling beams - you know, like you are looking up at the ceiling. The Venetians used hefty wooden beams set very close together. I assume they did this to ensure sufficient strength to support the weight of the floors - many times floors were stone, marble, or terrazzo. Terrazzo being the lightest weight and the most flexible floor surface. Venetian buildings needed to be able to flex a little as they were sitting on wood piles driven deep into the muddy lagoon. In the important rooms, the underside of the beams are carved and painted to be very decorative.

This is a design that I have wanted to make since I started learning to use Substance Designer. I have really struggled to understand how to set heights and make things really look like there is depth between different things - in this case - the bottom of the beams and the flat ceiling/floor that the beams support. I have slowly gained understanding using the software and also gained skill at controlling the heights of different parts of the design. The carving on the underside of the beams is delicate.

Ceiling Beams design with coordinating fabrics. The Venetian Gothic quilt fabric collections features designs inspired by 16th century Gothic architecture in Venice. Available at my Spoonflower shop on cotton quilting fabric with 18 inch repeat, and on wallpaper with 24 inch repeat. It is also available in small size with 6 inch repeat on both fabric and wallpaper. The ceiling beams should be about 6” wide - so the 18 inch repeat on fabric is closest to dollhouse scale, but the 24 inch repeat on wallpaper should work ok, just a bit large.