Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Under the Sea




This was a real challenge since the sea is far removed from Nebraska. While cleaning house on Saturday I found a book on the sea I had forgotten I owned! It's at least 20 yrs. old. I found a picture of starfish that I copied and printed onto fabric. They weren't very bright so I used Prismacolor pencils wetted to brighten them. I then found some batik that had ocean like colors to put on a border. I thread painted the background of the rocks out onto the borders to tie it all together. I also printed out the seahorse and the purple coral in the lower right corner. I used the Prismacolor pencils on those, too. I did thread painted over the stars and added pink sea urchins. The purple plant/coral in the lower right was added with thread. My great mistake was trying to thread paint white lace coral coming in from the right. It got lost in the picture. So I redid it, leaving the old underneath by using Sulky Solvy and then just taking it down to give a dimensional appearance. The plants on the left were added to give more depth to the view and a place for the seahorse to hang onto. The edge finish is one from a Sue Benner class. As mentioned by someone else, this type of edge is hard to get to lay flat. I think it works for Sue since she has so much Wunder Under in her quilts making them stiffer. This quilt is 12" x 12".

7 comments:

  1. Very nice scene. The white dimensional coral really adds to your piece. I like the depth created by having motif's outside of the border area. Great colors and variety of underwater life. Good use of thread and quilting.

    Pam

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  2. I ditto all the above, particularly love the expansive feel created by the sea plants growing from the bottom and out the top. Good choice of border fabric as well. Wonderful piece
    Cherie

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  3. The elements in the border give your piece so much dimension and also, I think, unifies the background and the interior. As the others said, the white coral is terrific. I have always wondered what to do with the Prismacolor pencils I just had to have. Now I know, thank you very much.

    Great job!

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  4. I love your coral. I like the photo in the middle bordered and the stuff in the border. Very effective composition.

    I wonder what more tassels on the bottom would do.

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  5. Very nice. I love the coral and plants spilling into the borders. Lovely fabric choices.

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  6. For someone who doesn't live near the sea, you certainly captured the feeling. I love the white coral.

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  7. Beautiful. It looks like what I imagine it would look like under the sea.
    Betty

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