Mermaid Mini

As promised...my next catch up post.  This one is about the most recent mini quilt I completed.

The was a Sea mini swap...so ocean creatures and colors.  After seeing my partner's inspiration pictures and reading all her answers on the sign up form.  I knew it had to be a mermaid.  I try very hard to make sure that what I make for my partners is thoughtful and heartfelt.  I want them to feel special when they open their packages. Sometimes that means make a pattern that already exists and sometime that mean something original.

So I started with a fabric pull...blues to represent the sea...

 

A few years ago, while we still lived in Alaska, I checked out a book by Jean Wells called Intuitive Color and Design.  She uses a technique where you overlap two strips of fabric, free hand cut a gentle curved line and then sew the strips together.  I used this method to create the background for my mermaid.

After completing the background I got busy sketching up my mermaid, scanned her into the computer and printed out several different sizes.  I ultimately went with the one in the upper left because I felt like she was the most proportional to the water.

 

In the picture below you can see a collection of scraps that I used to create my mermaid.  Her hair, face and arm are fused on to the background with Pellon Lite EZ-Steam II. With this particular fusible you can remove one side and stick the fabric on before you fuse it.  The hair was a bit labor intensive as I cut every little piece and attached it to the fusible web after I had drawn all the shapes on the back.  That allowed me to attach it as one large piece to the water without having to line up all the tiny strips and even though the fusible created a permanent bond I did stitch around every single bit of her hair to create more movement.  I starched the fabric for the tail and tacked it on with a fabric glue stick before sewing it down.  

For the quilting I just did wavely lines that mimicked the curves in the background and outlined the mermaid so that she would stand out a bit..  I also did a it of embroidery to add details to her face.

I love the way she turned out and while it was hard to send her off to her new home, I know she is loved.