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WIP Wednesday – Turtle Finished, Sea Star Added

There’s been a new addition to my Under the Sea crazy quilt block since I last shared a photo of it.

Embroidered Sea Star

When I was trying to draw the sea star on the sea bottom I couldn’t get it looking the way I wanted, so our middle daughter drew it for me so that the arms look like it’s crawling over the sand.   Before embroidering it, I checked out photos of sea stars that can be found in Hawaii and then chose a variegated floss in those colors to stitch it with.

When you last saw the Hawaiian green sea turtle, I had only stitched the gold outline.   She is now finished.

Embroidered Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

If you want to know how I know my sea turtle is a she, it’s because she has a small, skinny tale.  Male sea turtles have long, thick tales.

Here’s a photo of the scene as it stands now:

My Under the Sea scene as of Jun 24th

There are still lots more fun details to be added.  I plan to include a different variety of sea star below and a little to the left of the fire coral.  There will be other varieties of coral as well.  And of course, I’ll need some fish!

This project has become one of my happy projects where I stitch and dream of when we lived in Maui and went scuba diving every chance we could.  I’m even thinking ahead to a much larger Under the Sea scene because I am so enjoying figuring out how to translate the under water world in stitches.

I’ve also made progress on my Forest Friends quilt.

Quilting on the Half Log Cabin Blocks on Forest Friends quilt

The multi-colored half log cabin blocks have been straight-line quilted in a diamond pattern that I created by drawing two large Vs on each block; one the inverse of the other.   Once they were all drawn on, I was able to quilt and turn, quilt and turn, without having a lot of stops and starts.   This had the added advantage of not having as many threads to bury, which I’m sure I’ve mentioned before is my least favorite part of making a quilt.

Today, I’ll be burying those threads before moving on to free motion quilting leaves in the cream colored sections of the quilt.

To update Dave’s WIP from last week, he’s finished the sanding and has moved on to spray painting each of the chair parts.

Dave spray painting the lawn chair parts.

The DIY spray paint booth you can see in the background was constructed from parts of a gazebo that we found put out on garbage day.  After they’ve served their purpose as a spray booth, Dave is going to paint those as well and turn them into trellises for our tomato and zucchini that we’ve got growing in pots in the back yard.

What are you working on today?

 

 

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16 Comments

  • Cori
    July 1, 2015 8:27 pm

    Your sea star is so pretty in that floss! Who would have thought to use pinks. It really brings your scene to life. Your turtle is so nice too. Beautiful stitching Sue.

  • CathieJ
    June 27, 2015 5:12 pm

    Your embroidery is beautiful. You are very talented at translating those designs into thread. Love your Forest Friends quilt. That owl is so cute.

  • Sandi
    June 25, 2015 2:55 pm

    Your under the sea project is just lovely! Thanks for sharing your great creativity.

  • Renee
    June 25, 2015 12:00 pm

    Sue, your UTS block is FABULOUS! I love, love, love your turtle! Your daughter did a great job drawing the sea star. (If that is a DMC floss, it may well be the same variegated floss I used to make coral last week. Love that color for UTS blocks!) I love that you made him with French knots. How big is your little seahorse? Adorable! This is such a great block! I cannot wait to see what you reveal next. 🙂

    Your Forest Friends quilt is adorable. I just love it! And I love the way you and your husband re-purposed the gazebo parts to put them to great use. 🙂

  • Stephanie
    June 25, 2015 8:33 am

    Great Honu, Sue! reminds me of all the wonderful sites on the road to Hanna we took. Black sand?
    Aloha, Stephanie

  • Christine B.
    June 25, 2015 4:49 am

    Hello Sue! I love how your crazy quilt block is progressing…. especially liked the sea star. I am a big fan of your forest friends quilt too and it is looking lovely! Your garden is going to look fabulous with it’s newly painted furniture! Have a lovely week! 🙂 x

  • Laurel
    June 24, 2015 6:30 pm

    Your work is so creative, I get inspired every time I visit your site!

    Thanks for posting to TN&TN’s WIP Wednesday.

  • Mary Anne
    June 24, 2015 6:25 pm

    Beautiful star fish and Ms. Turtle looks ever so elegant. Nice block!

  • Samiya
    June 24, 2015 6:26 pm

    Love the sea scene, beautiful embroidery. Can’t wait to see finished product!

  • Christine M
    June 24, 2015 5:10 pm

    Lovely sea block, Sue. I just love your star fish.

  • Rachel
    June 24, 2015 3:46 pm

    Well, that block is turning out well, isn’t it!

  • Katie
    June 24, 2015 4:10 pm

    Oh I love the sea turtle and the sea start!!!!

  • Raewyn
    June 24, 2015 3:03 pm

    Your seascape is looking great – neat idea to grow the scene like that. I love your Owls too 🙂

  • Mary
    June 24, 2015 1:45 pm

    That seascape piece is going to be gorgeous. I like the soon to be trellis too.

  • Gina
    June 24, 2015 1:18 pm

    I love your sea themed crazy block. The turtle is really cute. I’m in an under the sea themed swap and you’ve given me some great inspiration, thank you.

  • Quilter Kathy
    June 24, 2015 12:35 pm

    A gorgeous turtle… great job!

Comments are closed.