Catch a Wave

This week brought a finish for the turtle quilt (see previous post), including a two-toned binding and a little "bling" for the turtles. (Click on any photo to enlarge.)

The water got a little "bling" as well. This pricey, one-yard length of cording was purchased at the Paducah, KY AQS quilt show about 5 years ago. At the time I had no idea what I'd do with it, but couldn't resist the color and the subtle sparkle.

It turned out to be the exact color of the water in this turtle quilt...and even more fortuitous, the exact length needed to follow the sea foam curve across the entire width of the quilt!

(I long ago stopped questioning the wisdom of my quilting Muse. She just knows.)

The cording was couched onto the quilt with a free motion zigzag stitch and a 100-weight (very fine) poly thread.

The turtles' embellishments are subtle, too, and cost me nothing. All I did was get out my late mother-in-law's jar of old buttons and, after auditioning several, sewed one on each turtle's shell. (First time for attaching buttons using my sewing machine...super fast and easy!)

Paint markers and Sharpies were used to shade the legs and heads (and, in one case, conceal the obvious turtle head overlapping one turtle's shell).


And here's the finished quilt, titled Catch a Wave:

(excuse the pins)

A two-toned binding was chosen, because an all-around turquoise emphasized the water too much and cooled the quilt down, while an all-around red-brown warmed it up too much and looked out of place next to the water. But the red-brown definitely makes the turtles "pop" more.

The quilting is a little more obvious in this next photo.

Confession: Several times during the making of this quilt, I wanted to put my bare feet in that water. I guess that's a good sign...of what, I'm not sure. Probably that I need a vacation. :)

'Til next time,
Linda