Finished Wall Hanging

 

You've seen bits of this wall hanging before, but now it's been gifted and I can show you the finished product.

It was meant as a Christmas gift for a young woman, using swim suits from her synchronized swimming days.  You probably know how December turned out for me, and I couldn't finish it.  The young woman's mother was gracious and it turned into a birthday gift.

I didn't know how to incorporate those slinky swim suits into a quilt, so I made a cotton quilt backing, meant to resemble water, and cut fish out of the swim suits.  After appliquing the fish with Wonder Under and outlining them with thread, I used fabric paint to cover the stitching and to add a few decorative touches.

All during January I only made it up the stairs to the studio once or twice.  It's hard now to even remember being that weak.  And then one by one the remaining fish went on and getting up from the floor where I was working was a challenge every time.  Then one day the wall hanging came downstairs for the finishing painting on the dining room table.

The wall hanging ended up telling part of the young woman's story and a bit of mine too.