I had a dream...quilt

I couldn't quite believe I "dreamed up" this quilt while I was sleeping. When I woke up I immediately started to add to the original image and turn it into something I could actually do. Then I went looking for the base material that was a teal batik type in the dream. And, as I have a ton of scraps in that colorway, I did find the perfect piece that drifted into my dreamscape that night. So now how do I make it happen in reality???

I started with a piece of fine net and criss-crossed it with a gorgeous sparkly teal ribbon to look like a real fish net. Using stabilizer paper underneath worked just fine.




Then I had to decide where and what to put under the net. I had some real tiny shells from beach collecting, and pieces of mica that my grandkids had given me. I broke up one of the mica into smaller pieces and thin as possible and used a dot of fabric glue to hold them in place. And the most important piece was a fish. I had recently gotten a stash of goodies from ETSY including a pair of lightweight fish earrings. They fit the bill perfectly. Took off the earwires and sewed one carefully onto the background.


Now to set the net in place and attach it with little seed beads at each cross point to keep all the goodies in place.

Can you see the beads?


Then I attached more of the teal ribbon on the outside of the net and folded one edge in a couple wrinkles to make it look more 3D. Can you see the sparkle of the mica?

Added a solid teal edge and did some quilting to make it look as though the net was being pulled out of the water.

Then I added the 'free' fish and some eyelash yarn and beads for seaweed. I carefully put the yarn over the fish to hide his little loop that held him to the quilt.

And VOILA...as they say...I have a finished dream. I call it "Caught" and I like to assume the catcher is also a believer in releasing, as he only wanted the shells, RIGHT?

Autumn Fireworks finished...

...and put into my ETSY shop My hand is doing just great, and I am finished with the therapy and only have to do regular exercises at home for about a month. I was delighted to get three sales in the shop in the last couple weeks, but that also makes me anxious to get to work and fill the empty spots. I wanted to get at least 50 items available before I relaxed about it and allowed myself to do some personal quilting--LIKE THAT DARNED KING-SIZE BED QUILT-before another winter goes by!!

Hand is getting better...

...so I can finally get to typing and more importantly, to quilting. The swelling was so bad I couldn't bend the hand for two weeks. This caused the tendons to stiffen somethin' terrific!! So now I am going for physical therapy and doing exercises every hour to get the hand working again. It is much better and I'm back in business--Whoopee!
Here is one I started a couple days ago to see if I could work the hand in all the moves necessary. It is coming along nicely, and I hope to have it finished soon.


This is a UFO that I finally decided to get back to work on. I wanted to do more embellishing, but couldn't quite decide what would look good. Now I have some beading and embroidery ideas and just have to get to it.


This is a FINISHED wall hanging for ETSY that I am calling "Losing touch" It is the first time I added metal findings from my husband's shop drawers full of hardware. Fun treasure hunt with a whole new eye down in his dusty ole drawers and containers!