Monday, September 18, 2017

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2017 {Entry #2: Mystical Mermaid}

I am so excited that the Blogger's Quilt Festival is BACK and back in its original form! Please visit Amy's Creative Side to see all of the entries (all in one place!)



For my second entry, I decided to share my Mystical Mermaid quilt. This year I am an Island Batik Ambassador and this project was made as one of my monthly themed projects. April was our month for an applique project and I decided on making a baby quilt with a mermaid outline for a coworker's new baby.

I decided on using our Ready, Set, Soar! pattern and to create my own mermaid applique pattern from clip art. (Details here!) The base fabrics were ones that I chose that fit my "under the sea" theme -- including some prints with shells!



For the machine applique, I used a small blanket stitch around my mermaid. I will say that this is the most detailed machine applique project I have done to date -- I have done quite a bit of machine applique in other projects but I really had to slow down and adjust my piece more frequently than in the past due to all of the detail in the mermaid. I think a smaller stitch length helped maintain the level of detail, but it did take much more time. The result is beautiful, so I will say it was time well invested!



For the backing I used a batik from my stash that is mainly navy with rainbow accents. I quilted this all in one day -- the off-white section is a bubble meander, and the stripe sections are a clamshell, or really, mermaid tail scales! For the quilting, I did the off white section first, and then did the clamshell quilting.


I bound this with the same navy + rainbow batik as the backing! Hello, Ariel!


This picture shows off both the clamshell quilting (which is far from perfect) and the backing. The backing is a little more "rainbow" than the main fabrics of the quilt, but the mainly dark backing is what I wanted for this quilt.


Another close up of my clamshell quilting -- I used the strip seams as my guides and marked lines perpendicular to keep my clams a consistent height.




#gratuitousbindingshot


My Disney-loving coworker absolutely loved the quilt for her little girl! I am anxiously waiting for a picture of the new Little Miss with her quilt!


Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Ready, Set, Soar! by HBD Designs
Size: 40 x 50 inches (slightly longer than the original pattern)
Fabrics: Various Island Batik fabrics for quilt top, Kona Navy for Mermaid
Quilting: meander around mermaid, clamshells in striped sections
Techniques: Machine applique, fusible applique, free motion quilting
Started: February 2017
Finished: April 2017

Thanks for stopping by and reading about my quilts! Don't forget to visit the Blogger's Quilt Festival for all of the lovely quilts! You can visit my first entry here!

20 comments:

  1. I really like how the mermaid seems to be swimming through kelp or a tunnel or like the ocean is translucent and parting to let us view her silhouette along a sandy ocean floor. This is a sweet quilt and design!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a lovely quilt... your colors are perfect!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I remember this one. Very creative and clever. I need to stretch myself and try some machine applique.
    Pat

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful mermaid !!! I received my lovely little package ;) thanks much

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is so cute! I love the Ariel shape and the complimentary quilting pattern.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This reminds me of those Row by Row quilts! A great idea to just highlight one subject or one Row! And the clamshell quilting was brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your quilt looks great. What a gorgeous gift.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow this is amazing
    and love the colors.
    Carla from Utah

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow. So basic, and yet so beautiful. Nice work!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Batiks get such a negative response from so many quilters. This is beautiful, the colours are stunning - perfect for this quilt.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a fabulous quilt and so unusual for a baby quilt! I find it very appealing, and the colors are great. I, personally, love creating with Batiks. I mix them with other fabrics and use them like anything else, but especially like them for applique. You've certainly used them effectively here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is fabulous!! And thanks for the tips on doing clamshell quilting. It really looks great, like rows of waves, perfect for the theme :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is such a fun quilt! Perfect for a baby girl.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh I love this design, what a stunner :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! I try to respond to all comments and if I am not responding to you, your settings probably prevent me from responding to you via email -- meaning, that you are a no-reply blogger. Please check your settings so that I can properly respond to you!