Mini QT Swap, Underwater, July 2010

Mandy received her underwater theme mini quilt yesterday so I can share it here now. She asked for a bit of whimsy so I added a disappearing mermaid tail and a shell with a pearl. Mandy prefers bright fabrics so I feel like this quilt falls a bit short for her but I just didn't have any materials that were bright and would work for underwater. I did a bit of embroidery here-french knots on the octopus and starfish. I used beads on the mermaid tail and a few scattered in the sand. I had some material that reminded me of sea creatures that I used to cover a couple of buttons and I stitched those on. The little fish at the top were done with a freezer paper stencil. The background of the whole piece is a snail trail block. I used a lot of free motion quilting on this piece and have by no means mastered my technique. I apologized to Mandy for practicing so much on her!

While investigating Mandy's likes and dislikes, I discovered that she collected Kokeshi dolls. This was my favorite part of the swap. I made her a pincushion with a little doll I sketched up. I made a freezer paper stencil and stencilled onto linen. I had so much fun with this pincushion and it made Mandy very happy so I am thrilled.