Saturday, July 4, 2009

Don't forget the bubbles!

Sometimes I get quilting away and just go and go. But some quilts take some pre-planning, like this quilt for example. This darling quilt was made by my talented friend Lisa. It was for one of her kid's school teachers. She's made others before. Remember the Horton quilt?...Horton. And the Hungry Caterpillar?...Hungry. Each handprint belongs to each of the students in the class. The largest handprint on the quilt is the teacher's. Each of the students is following the teacher in the 'school of fish'. I began by making swirls throughout to give it the look of water. I just started quilting away, but as I quilted past the first fish, I remembered the bubbles. Lisa suggested the fish have bubbles coming out of their mouths. So I stopped and changed threads, in order to do the bubbles. Thread of choice? A light aqua from A&E Permacore. They have tons of colors...more than I'll probably ever use! If I had not stopped to quilt the bubbles, I wouldn't have been able to quilt them at the end. The water would have been all around the fish, with no bubbles! I'm glad I stopped and remembered the bubbles! Soon all the fish had their bubbles and I could continue with the water. Look how cute Louise's fish is below. Louise! Someone named their girl Louise? I haven't heard that name in years. Soon all the water was done. Now, on to the sand. How do you quilt sand? I did my faux-McTavishing technique for the sand. And check out the darling crab here:
And speaking of bubbles...whatever happened to...


you know who....


Bubbles, the Chimp? Who gets custody of him?
Now back to work, Vivian! Enjoy your 4th!

14 comments:

SandyQuilts said...

Man what a wonderful quilt and so many memories. Thanks for sharing.

Elaine said...

The idea of this quilt is so cute. My daughter is a schoolteacher. I'll have to mention it to her. Your quilting idea was great!

Mary said...

Vivian,
Darling quilt! Excellant quilitng. Have a great 4th.

Tina said...

What a cute quilt. I love quilts for teachers! Once again, beautiful job on the quilting! Happy 4th!

Vicki W said...

What great quilting!

Shannon said...

It's your attention to detail like this that makes your quilting so unique!

Gari in AL said...

thank you for sharing not only your great quilting but the thought process that went into it.

Angie said...

Such a cute quilt! I love how you quilted this! Bubbles What a clever idea for a school teacher gift or auction quilt!

QuiltSue said...

The quilt design is really clever, and your quilting just makes it great.

LuAnn Kessi said...

Hi Vivian..........Your quilting just keeps me coming back to your blog to take a peek........your work is wonderful, fresh and fun, and always so appropriate for the quilt.
I think you and I should collaborate in 2010 on a show quilt. How much fun we could have. Check out my work and let me know if you are interested.
LuAnn in Oregon
http://luannkessi.blogspot.com/

Pat at Bell Creek Quilts said...

Wonderful quilting and the bubbles and sand textures are awesome!

I heard Bubbles the chimp lives in a zoo since it bite a girl visiting MJ...a long time ago.

whimsyfox said...

This is one of the cutest quilts I've ever seen!!! And fantastic quilting on it!

Unknown said...

I absolutely love that little fish quilt....so very clever to do.
Your quilting skills are extraordinnaire....

Tracey said...

I love your quilting - some great ideas beautifully executed.