Fish Scraps

I happened to be in our local Joann's this morning and was browsing the latest issues of quilt magazines.  I was quite surprised and delighted to see my quilt, Fish Scraps, featured in Quilter's Newsletter's newest issue of Best Scrap Quilts.

This quilt was made back in 2006 and was featured in a QNM issue around that time after having been a selected finalist in the Do You EQ? contest.  It has also recently been on tour in the International Quilt Festival's exhibit "In the American Tradition" since last October, traveling to all of their shows this year.

I had originally been given a couple of large boxes of fabric samples from a salesman that worked for our screenprinting company at the time.  He had formally been a sales rep for a surf wear clothing company and was getting rid of leftover fabrics.  Of course, I couldn't let him throw any of it away!  After considerable thought, I decided to do a quilt that tied the myriad of tropical prints together.  I had seen a vintage fish quilt years before and that inspired this quilt.

I designed 10 variations of the fish in EQ (Electric Quilt software).  All of them are foundation-pieced on paper, much easier than dealing with templates for me.  Each fish is unique and some even have eyes created by careful positioning of the design in the fabric. 

With so many fabrics, I decided to create a scrappy pieced back to the quilt as well.  And as much as I hate to admit it, this quilt hardly made a dent in this fabric stash!

So be sure and pick up your latest issue of Best Scrap Quilts.  There are 28 scrappy quilts to inspire you!  Happy Quilting!