Finally Finished!!

I did it!! I finally finished a big project. I went to our Fyber Café semi annual retreat, and spent hours and hours machine quilting. At least 8 hours a day for 3 days. Here it is...

"Fun in the Sun, Bastendorf Beach, Oregon" Wow! I can't believe it is done, what a feeling. It is created with a montage of several photos I took at different times at the beach, my friend's dog, my friend Debbie flying her kite, kids skim boarding the surf, and the dog & kayaker at the lake at my sisters. I was reading a quilt book about portrait quilts, and the author said it is not about who you know, family and friends, but about body language telling a story. I see this strongly in the girl in the pink bikini getting into the cold water, you know it is cold just from her body language. The boys running after the soccer ball, and the kids building a sand castle all tell a story with their body language. The shadows in my original photos were very dramatic as well. They are made with two layers of black tulle and a tan chiffon scarf. The boy, girl and dog are also trapunto, I thread painted them, then added an extra layer of batting before adding them to the background. It is a large quilt about 2 1/2 feet by 5 feet, so it was difficult to wrangle around under my home machine, especially getting started until I had it stabilized with some stitching. Please leave a comment, I would appreciate it. I am linking this to Nina Marie's "Off the Wall Friday" Check out all the talented fiber artists click here