It's been too hot to work on this one to really finish the top. I was frustrated to lose the momentum. I am so not-a-summer person. Grrr! So I took Friday off in order to work on it in the cooler hours of morning. And it's done!
Last time, I was still working on the lower 2/3 of the quilt, the underwater scenes.
Now I've got it all together, with lily pad stems stitched down.
The Crossover Fish
Here it is from the back, showing the stitching on the stabilizer.
The elements didn't quite match up on the pattern pieces. That might have been intentional as part of the water bending light, so you don't see what you see where it is, but shifted just a little. ???
Looks like he might need a top fin, too.
Some detail shots of the log. I wish the multiple browns had blended a little better.
I'll quilt in some bark texture later on, that will hopefully tie it all together.
More sunken log.
Detail of the knot hole.
Lily Pad Stems
After all the big blocks were sewn together, I mapped out where I wanted the lily pad stems to go.
They bridge multiple blocks so it made sense to do them after the blocks were put together. I cut green strips of a variety of green fabrics, from my stash, not even bias strips. Usually they are about 1-1/2 inches wide. Thinner than that, and I couldn't turn them inside out. There was enough give and sway with these to meander them through the water for convincing lily pad stems, even of they are a bit thick. I fused them down to hold them in place for stitching.
Mr. Turtle needed the other half of his head, once the blocks were assembled. His head was breaking out of the water. As the pattern was written, there was a mismatch, where his head above water didn't match his head below water. I decided to make it match anyway, even though the reeds next to him "broke."
Once the blocks were together, and the lily pad stems attached, it was time to add some fun little extra elements, like this jumping green frog.
And this blue snail.
I have two more dragonflies to add once the top has been sandwiched and quilted. I thought it would be easier to do the background quilting without the dragonflies, and add them last.
Green Darner Dragon Fly
Here is the full view again. I am antsy to start quilting it now ... I have definite ideas on what background quilting pattern / design to use at each level / depth. But I suspect that will have to wait for cooler weather. It's a lot of work to wrestle a quilt.
Now -- Let's see if I have a suitable wide backing for this work of art!
When the whole thing is done and quilted, I'll give you detail shots of each element.
Let's hope it won't take forever and a day to finish!
