So it all began with a hunt for something elseā¦which unearthed slides of photos taken during scuba dives many years agoā¦catching moments feeding yellowtails, rubbing the chin of a moray eel, making friends with a tiny seahorse – sheer magic! Butā¦hmmā¦slides for a projectorā¦remember those?
I discovered that laying each atop a blank screen on my iPad (to illuminate the image), then taking a photo with my iPhone, allowed me to have digital images which were far from perfectā¦but would work.
Time passed, the pandemic hit and I became immersed in my Joy Quilt Project. Two years later, I sat in my studio staring at a sensational piece of Caribbean blue Lava Solid fabric by Anthology for Windham Fabricsā¦and remembered the images Iād captured. Aha! I had my sea, and I had the amazing Pura Vida collection by Sassafras lane https://windhamfabrics.com/php/fabricshop/fabricshop.php?a=sc&Category=1466– the brilliant saturated colors would be perfect for my flora and fauna down below. Can you see the scene begin to take shape in the photo below?
My image and that of most of the critters were traced from the photos in Procreate, then sent to my Cricut Maker digital cutterā¦this moray eel was definitely from real life:
For some of the lacy branch coral, I was particularly happy I had a digital cutter ;)ā¦
Fortunately, my Cricut is still speaking to me, though it was touch and go after that purple piece ;). After deciding the placement of the diver and the coral reef below, the rest of the composition was basically pure fun – which sea creature to add next? Procreate is super useful at each stageā¦I would take photos of what was already cut and Mistyfused, and doodle in the next design elements. At one point, a certain cat snuck in and insisted upon joiningā¦
What to do? Cut him out and then give him a tank, of course ;). As it turned out, the only fictional creatures here are Jackson, and the jellyfishā¦yes, I did swam with a sea turtle, with a sting ray (the best dive of all, they are adorable!), and had a tiny octopus walk across my hand (teeny suction cups to ground himself).
All fused and ready for thread! I decided this would be a perfect piece for Aurifilās fabulous 28wt thread – I stashed the warm and cool colors of Annie Smithās āLove is Spoken Hereā collections ā¤ļø in a plastic case:
And so commenced stitchingā¦and trimming frayā¦and more stitchingā¦and moreā¦ā¦.
ā¦and when all of the appliqued pieces were quilted, used a few shades of Aurifil 50wt for the water. The bubbles were a challenge, as in real life they stream from the regulator in your mouth and grow larger as they approach the surface. My SAQA crew offered lots of helpful suggestions re acrylic paints and bubble paper, but the changing size was an issue (yeah, right, Laurie, because a black cat scuba-diving is SO realistic š ā¦)ā¦so I decided to do some pebbling and some flowing lines.
One more addition for pure play was a bit of silk ribbon for ākelpā – totally not Carribbean but I wanted to play with the new foot that came with the upgrade to my Bernina 770QE. SO MUCH FUN!
This was the first largish art quilt done on my Bernina 770QE, and it was a dream – I really did not miss my longarm in the least because there was a LOT of fine detail I needed to do, so much easier sitting down (albeit with Loki in my lap most of the timeā¦heās all set to demonstrate at Open Studios at IQF!). You know how there are some pieces you hate to finish? This was definitely oneā¦soā¦having conquered the seas, Jackson plans to explore space next!
neonkittyquilts 
You must be logged in to post a comment.