Closeups of the Sexy Merman and Lg Mermaid

Each post is limited as to the number of pictures that can be included, so here are the last two pics of some closeups of the Merpeople.

Mermaid Jacket Progress

Wow, this jacket/long vest construction is not for the faint of heart, let me tell you. I've incorporated all the hand appliqued Mermaids, a sexy Merman and some Merbabies waiting to be born onto the yokes. Some of the appliques are my own designs incorporated into the instructor's original design. There's lots of embellishment waiting to be done once the vest is constructed and the yoke quilted. In other words, a bit of work still to be done.

Wearable Art, Part 2

I've been working madly for the past few days creating the foundation and background for the back yoke of my mermaid jacket. This is definitely a challenging garment but I'm enjoying the journey. Now I have to wait until Saturday to get the second lesson to continue on with adding the mermaids and jewel-filled treasure chest. Here's a picture of the back yoke. Click on it for a closer look.






I've decided that I'd rather have a long coat-like vest instead of a jacket, so I'm going to eliminate the sleeves and lenghten the now-vest to just above the knee. This will look great with some black slacks and white poet's blouse.

Wearable Art

I just started an online class with Quilt University that was recommended by the leader of the Art Quilt Club that I was recently invited to join. The site offers some really terrific classes at very reasonable prices. You download a weekly lesson to work at your own pace; there is a forum for sharing with other students around the world or for contacting the instructor with questions/problems.

The class I'm taking is for a wearable art Mermaid Jacket, designed and taught by Linda Schmidt. It's quite challenging, yet it's really getting my creative juices going. This first week involved cutting out the front and back yokes, enlarging and tracing a design to a stabilizer that is then ironed to the yokes. Next came applique' piecing the background of the mermaid underwater scene (seaweed, coral and sand primarily) from the reverse side and then using couched fibers and metallic threads to enhance the applique' from the front.

I've completed the two front yokes, pictured below. (click on pics for larger view) Remember that this is just the background of the scene and once mermaids and seahorses and starfish are added, there will be ribbon embroidery, beading, buttons, charms, jewels and such added to complete the yokes. Then the rest of the garmet will be created by strip piecing a multitude of fabrics.

I'm now working on the back yoke, so keep an eye out for more postings on the wearabouts of the Mermaids.

More Decorated Dominoes

I've been busy decorating more dominoes to use in my craft projects. In addition to making domino books, there's potential for their use in wearable art, art quilts, scrapbooking, mixed media such as fabric journals and even for greeting cards. Here are some pictures of some of the new designs. Click on them for a larger view.





A fellow LibraryThinger wrote me an email suggesting that I create domino books with a literary theme inside related to an author or a classic book and try to sell them through bookstores. An interesting idea.