Saturday, February 18, 2012

Tale of Two Mermaids


 These two quilts began with the bright version on the left. It is a smaller replica of a mermaid quilt I made last summer for myself. Is basically the same minus a bottom row of blocks and I eliminated the lighthouse and plants. I call it "Lake Michigan Mermaid." My intention was to enter it in an exhibit in Milwaukee this spring but I don't think they are doing the exhibit in 2012 so I will try to sell it at a vendor show this summer, The brown muted mermaid is a gift to my friend Jan who invited me to her Florida home recently and I call this quilt "Winter Haven Mermaid" since the area is abundant in lakes. Would the alligators eat a mermaid??!! I was inspired by Jan's decorating using soft blues, yellows and the sand/tan tones. I used a medium brown to do the raw edged fused applique keeping in mind to have enough contrast to be able to see it but not too dark to veer away from the soft muted tones.
This is the close up of  Miss Lake Michigan and ever though I am using the same technique her face looks different from the first mermaid quilt I did and she looks like Lacey Schwimmer from Dancing With The Stars!! I enbellished with rhinestones, beads, buttons, Sculpy Clay fish buttons, fabric paint, glitter and nail polish.

Miss Winter Haven has embellishments of sea shells, since Jan had lots of shells as part of her Florida decor, a small amount of glitter from nail polish, fabric paint and rhinestones. I didn't go crazy with the bling because it seemed more calm/serene without it.

I like them both but the choice of bright or muted fabrics definitely chances the emotion of the quilt. Do you prefer one mermaid over the other??

3 comments:

  1. Laurie,

    I like them both but my favorite is the Miss Winter Haven, she softer looking. I love both background combinations. All my colors! Nice work!

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  2. Love your latest work(s)...I did pass on the Liebster Award to you, Laurie!! You can read on my post today.
    http://robbiespawprints.blogspot.com/2012/03/liebster-blog-award.html

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  3. I'm definitely a Miss Michigan Mermaid lover. The brighter and 'blingier' it is, the better I like it!

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