The Mermaid Quilt

Around 1993 I hired Charlotte Warr Anderson to teach at my Northern Michigan Quilter's Getaway retreat. I admire her work tremendously and for my money, she is the best living quiltmaker! I didn't have time to take her workshop so with the help of 10 friends, we hired Charlotte to teach us a private workshop in one of our homes. My project was to make a quilt of my daughter Colleen as a mermaid. During the workshop I got the pattern for her body drawn and her face appliqued. I also chose fabric for her body. I got stuck on the background to put her on. 10 years later (I think) I heard Charlotte was going to teach a workshop in Flint. I signed up for the workshop and brought my mermaid. At this point I had her hair appliqued to her face. I told Charlotte I was stuck on the background and in 2 minutes she had drawn the waves! Again I was amazed by her talent and willingness to share. Her waves were perfect, but because I was a unsure about where to start appliqueing them, the mermaid went back into her bin. Meanwhile I made many other quilts and was working on finishing Unfinished Projects and my Colleen grew up. She started asking if I was ever going to finish her mermaid quilt, so I decided to be brave and jump back in and finish it this time. So you see how far I've gotten. Now with an extra day off work I'm piecing triangles for an Ocean Waves border. Then I'll be appliqueing fish, sea horses, coral and plants to keep Colleen company.

Till next time....... Happy Quilting!