A detour from my usual subjects (do I have usual subjects?), I made this lap quilt for a dear friend's mom, who used to have a mermaid-themed bathroom.
Mermaid Tail
31.25"w x 40.5"h
hand-dyed cotton, velvet, linen; Velma-dyed cotton; corduroy, flannel; hand and free-motion quilted
I drew and cut a stencil from frosted Mylar for the scales; the tail was just taped off with artist's tape before painting. I used Jacquard Lumiere fabric paints in green and blue on the black Kona cotton.
Some of the fabric Velma had dyed and sent me was perfect for the sea.
I hand stitched around the scales and tail, free-motion quilted the waves.
In this lap quilt, to offset the slight stiffness of the fabric paint I included hand-dyed velvet and backed the quilt with store-bought flannel.
Now I'm thinking back to dragons again.
They are sort of in the air with House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. But I guess dragons are always in the air.
Addendum 9.28.22. Mermaids were on display recently at our local library.
