While thinking about the “Water” themed quilt, lots of ideas crossed my mind.  I knew I wanted to continue using the bits and pieces of fabrics that accumulate while we quilt and can’t bear to throw away.   After a week of trails and errors I finally decided on a design and technique.

I decided on the chenille or slashing technique that Eke had previously used in her last series using Fay Maxwells method.  I found it fun and fascinating and it used up lots of scraps!  I picked a cotton background and just piled up all sorts of lights and darks of blues and purples.  I used different kinds of fabric scraps like organza, tulle, cotton, satin, lace and even a piece of sequined fabric and covered it with a green satin fabric.

I wanted to create an illusion of ripples or movement in the water with free motion.  Once I completed all the stitching, I began to slash or cut through all the layers except the bottom layer.  This took much longer than I thought, but once completed I rubbed and brushed the slashed areas before I hand washed it and then beat it against a wall outside. I then threw it In the dryer with some old towels.  Once dried It actually came out very soft, I therefore added a stabilizer and another backing to give it more support. Before washing it I adding strips of sparkly white tulle to to make some highlights or sea foam in the water and embellishing with some  pearls.  I decided to bind it with the same sparkly white tulle to give it a seamless look.