Lakeview

This is a picture of the project I am teaching at Chautauqua Institution this year. It is a simple, paper pieced design I call Lakeview. This will be my first time teaching there and I am really excited! I hope I get the opportunity to teach there many more times.

Mermaids, mermaids and more mermaids

My family and I stopped at a roadside shop and saw this amazing fountain. The best I could do is take a photo since I don't have any place to put her or any money to buy her. I also have a small mermaid in my cottage, here in New York, where I got to spend the weekend, but I will have to add her later, since this isn't my computer and I don't know how to edit my photos in Paint. I had a friend meet me here at my cottage, so I was able to drink some wine and talk quilting for the whole weekend. What a great time. Next time, we bring sewing machines and no husband or kids!

Adding Details

Last night, I got brave and started stitching in a couple of details on my mermaid. She is only about 10" tall, so the most difficult part is deciding the scale of the details. I shortened the stitch length for the hair strands to 1.5, down from the default setting of 2.5. I also found a stitch on my machine that I thought mimicked fish scales and stitched some highlights on her tail. I think I will vary the width on the highlight stitching as it goes around curves when I re-do her, but for now, I am happy with the effect. Her face will be the most difficult part to do and I haven't decided if I want to stitch it or paint it yet. Any suggestions would be welcome!