Wisconsin Waterway 1

Today I went to the Professional Art Quilter's Alliance (PAQA) meeting in Glen Ellyn, IL. Because this was the closest meeting to the deadline for the "Water Challenge", many pieces were turned in today. The challenge was to make a piece 18" or less on a side with the theme of water. This is a picture of mine. I decided to make an underwater Wisconsin scene. I was thinking of all the mud bottom lakes we have in this state, how they are filled with seaweed and what great hideouts they are for fish.

I used a fat quarter cotton sateen piece of Rust-Tex for the background. The seaweed is made from torn pieces of a commercially produced batik, cut strips of metalic mesh fabric from Joann's, and some interesting yarns. These were all zig-zagged into place. The embellishments include three different kinds of fish beads, triangle bamboo beads, shinny glass beads, and seed beads. I quilted it with clear polyester thread on my Pfaff 7570.

That is what I am doing with Rust-Tex. If you have ever bought any of the fabric I have dyed with naturally occurring iron oxide please email me a jpg so I can post it here.