Where has the summer gone?

For that matter where is the fall going?

This poor blog has gone unattended for months,

but I'll give you just a few hints about what has occupied my time.

First to the garden...........

SEA GLIDER A bead embellished Mermaid

Sea Glider was the first is a series of mermaid figures

designed to be "in motion".

She was created after many patterns were developed in muslin fabric.

(see an earlier post)

Her hair is composed of individually quilted sections

which echo the shape of the tail.

The beads that embellish her body were collected from bead stores in at least six different states including Maine, North Carolina and Minnesota.

Front View

Bead Details on the base Sea Glider's Sister

"The Magic is in the Hair" is shown in one of the first posts on my blog.

Figures that Flow

Designing a mermaid figure that expresses movement has been the goal of the most recent series of figures. So often mermaids are seen "sitting on their tails" but I want my figures to move through the space. (or water)

A Little Magic

Now here is a doll for you to see . . . my great grandson Aiden with his mother Irene at the zoo in Asheboro NC riding the endangered animals carousel.

Quiltfest Rising Sun, Indiana

The Rivercity Figurative Artists' Guild

spent the Weekend of April 9-11, 2010 in Rising Sun, Indiana

at the 2010 Quiltfest.

It was a beautiful venue and a lovely show of Quilts, Dolls and various other art. Pictured here is my part of the space we occupied in the

Ballroom of the Grand Victoria Casino.Doll Pins and other items

" My Garden is Growing on Me"

ART DOLL

Small Art Quilts and Dolls

As part of the actual Quilt Show I entered two Art Quilts.

My Sea Glass Reflections ( quilt laying on the table)

and Perfect Symmetry (dragonfly quilt on the wall)

won First and Second Place Ribbons. Robbie with her ribbon winning quilts

More Mermaid Work

The Turtle continues with the embellishing of the fins. The next step will be to sew the back onto the fin and slide it in place on the armature.

At last, the Village of Batavia is out of the snow. And here is a pix of the first flower to spring forth in my yard. I've taken two days off from "Mermaid Work" to clear flower beds and play in the yard.

YET ANOTHER MERMAID

The Mermaid I will be creating over the next few weeks is the third in a series of 18-24 inch bead embellished artistic figures.
The most difficult decision about this mermaid was how to create the sea turtle she will ride, without the turtle just looking like a stuffed animal.
Solution – A wire topiary armature under the fabric. I found the topiary structure in a garden store in Virginia Beach.

The first step, after the selection of the fabrics, was to mark the patterns for the turtle parts and the mermaid figure. All the pattern pieces are original drawings. It was a real challenge to create a mermaid in the correct proportions for the size of the turtle armature so she will look balanced.

I’ve cut fabric to cover and reshape the fins to look like a sea turtle. Each section of fabric will be backed with batting and sewn in a free motion technique. The finished section will be backed with fabric to create a sleeve. Then I can just slide the fins, tail and head into place over the wire. The shell will be covered with four sections of free motion quilted fabric.