Mermaid CQ....the beginning

I am in a CQ RR with 5 other ladies and we are mailing for 1st round NEXT Saturday! Of course I am just starting on my piece. It is to be around 24" square. We have to have a printed image of a mermaid as the one prerequisite. The first time I printed on fabric I printed on the paper side (new printer feeds differently). Got it RIGHT the 2nd time.

I decided to print this vintage image of 2 girls in a rowboat. This will serve as the top of my piece, above the UNDERSEA fauna that is yet to be imagined!

The color of the fabric is actually soft pink, an old skirt from Salvation Army....affectionately and from here on out to be referred to as SALLY ANN'S. I originally cut many pink fabrics and auditioned them but in the end I really liked how that one played out.

I will piece the bottom and sew them together.

What must be remembered (and REALIZED by non CQers) is that a naked Crazy Quilt block looks rather like a newborn.....unadorned & simple. Over time, with much attention and creative thinking and love it becomes what it was made to be!

I will post the entire block before I mail it.

This awesome piece was in the background of a previous post but I wanted to show it up close. My friend SHARON made this beauty using watercolor wax crayons. What fun. She used real leaves as a pattern. The RAIN is a decorative stitch and was just the right touch to finish this off. Sharon gave our quilt guild a demo on this today. I BOUGHT them and look forward to trying them out.

And my friend MELANIE gave a demo on making purses from place mats! This is my favorite one. She made it for her Mom. The fabric is gathered on this one and has a gorgeous beaded trim sewn on the seam. Those handles......Curtain tiebacks!

SO as you can imagine I learned ALOT today..

1. Besides the above mentioned we learned how to do invisible machine applique. Using invisible thread and dinky zigzag stitch.
2. A foolproof way to finish your binding. I NEEDED to know this...!
3. George Washington was 6'2". Never would have guessed.....on the coin he looks short!!