Goldfish Quilt

     This quilt came about because I insulted a friend.  I didn't mean to.  I was trying to make her sister, who was visiting from California, feel welcome.  Instead, I managed to make my friend feel left out. 😳

     The conversation had turned towards quilting and I was showing her sister some of the quilts I'd made.  Afterwards, I asked which one she liked best and gave it to her.  Well, my friend said, "Hey!  I've known you longer!"  Ooops.  It was an unintentional oversight.  She and I didn't talk much about quilting, as there are so many other things to talk about, and I never thought to offer her one.  Of course, that led to making my friend a custom quilt. 😁

     We later had a sit-down session where she went through my quilting books and magazines so I could see what kind of quilts and colors she liked.  She kept pointing out the most spectacular and complicated quilts, ones with thousands of pieces.  After explaining that my skills are not that good, she decided to take some time to think about it.  She came back another day with a business card and said she would like a quilt like this:

     She actually had in mind a quilt I'd made a year or so earlier that had a horse on it.  But she wanted fish and colors like those on the business card.  The horse quilt was the most difficult pattern I'd made to date.  Fact is, there was no pattern for it.  It was made up as I went along.  I accepted the challenge, but advised her not to get too excited because, "This is going to take a long time."

     I knew I wouldn't be able to duplicate the business card exactly, so I used it for inspiration.

     The fish were done as a stencil.  Basically, I made panels of orange triangles, then laid the gray fabric over top and cut out the fish shapes.  Some might call it reverse applique.  

     This quilt was a challenge, but not in the way you might think.  The challenge was working with colors that I don't really care for.  I don't like gray, but it currently seems to be everyone's favorite neutral.  I can appreciate its versatility and I accept it more now than I used to (in the lighter shades).  I even use it in my quilts.  But, to me, gray is the color of death.  It symbolizes depression and deterioration.  It's also the color of spoiled meat.  So, if you own a restaurant, the last paint color you should choose for your décor (inside or out) is gray.    

     By the time I got to making the back of this quilt, I just had to add a contrasting color.  The green was so refreshing that I even thought about redesigning the front to include some pond plants like on the business card.  In the end, though, I left it alone.  The back was pieced together using fabric I had originally purchased for the top and some leftovers from the front.

     For the quilting, I did a meander over the water and straight lines over the fish.  I used an orange batik for the binding and the final, finishing touch was the label.

     Once it was finished, I fell in love with it!  I even kept it for a couple of months just so I could look at it.  While I was making the goldfish quilt for my friend, I was also making a quilt for her husband, who is also a good friend of our family.  I'll show you his quilt in a future post.  

When I go outside to take photos, the animals are often curious and come to see what's happening.

Here, Spartacus meets Goldfish.

The Wrap Up

Name:  Goldfish

Size:  76" x 66"

Top:  329 pieces

Back: 60 pieces

Batting:  mid-loft poly

Finished:  February 2018