Sadly, I didn't make it to the island but I knew all along I wanted to take on the sewvivor challenges and sew along. On my recent trip to the tetons, I was again reminded of natures great ability to calm and renew and I was thinking about the waves on the beach doing just that. Something about the rhythmic sound of the waves coming in and then receding back and the way the air smells salty. These are my favorite memories of the ocean. When I heard the first challenge was to quilt something Nautical, I knew I wanted to try and make a modern interpretation of the waves.
I used a classic quilt block pattern, Snails tail, and enlarged it to 32 by 32. The sand colored pieces are a cotton-linen blend that I've seen quilters using lately. When I think of linen, I think of the low country along the east coast, of hot summers and big front porches with spanish moss in the trees.
The best part of this quilt for me was the quilting. Again, I was thinking of the how the waves look as they land on the sand and then recede back to the ocean. The bubbles represent all the sea life.
When I did the binding, I wanted to use the same 4 fabrics that were in the 4 corners of the quilts. I didn't want to frame in the "wave", instead I wanted your eye to keep going out and not be stopped by the binding. Nice idea, I thought, However getting that binding pieced in just the right spot was crazy difficult for me. It repeatedly came out looking like the above picture.
Opps, the best part wasn't the quilting, it was this. I had my daughter sketch this on the back with a pigma pen before I quilted it. The girl on the beach was her idea. Pretty cool.
She says she might make a quilt someday….I'd love to see what she would come up with.
The 16 contestants on the island have finished their projects for the nautical challenge and they are up on "family ever after". You can vote for your 5 favorites. 10 contestants get to stay on the island for the next challenge. There is an amazing amount of talent out there.
