When I took the workshop with Caryl Bryer Fallert at the BTQG fall workshops, it was a two day workshop.  The first day learning appli-piece was the most important to me. The second day we learned how to make a hexagon. Once again, as yesterday, I didn't get that far on the piece, since this was a half day workshop. So, I learned the technique, and started the hexagon. When I got home I finished the hexagon in the next few weeks before I forgot how, and I thought what do I do with this!!  I think it must have been intended for a traditional block??

 I had made an underwater scene in her first workshop, Whimsical Seascape, since we had just returned from a family vacation in Hawaii.  To this day, underwater is a favorite topic for me for quilts. So, I began to think, how can I make this into an underwater scene and hang the three pieces from the workshop together. I came up with the idea and envisioned that the hexagon was a fish bowl. Then I began to jot down ideas that I might use. One of these brainstormed ideas that popped into my head, was the little pink female show beta I once had. She used to come to the top of the fish tank and swim onto the palm of my hand, lowered about an inch into the water, tickling my hand, in order to take the little white worms that I fed her.  She was so pretty and I really enjoyed her.  I imaged her in the fishbowl, wanting to get out into the ocean around her with the other little tropical fish, UNAWARE of the dangers that lie out there.  These dangers are represented by the shark and octopus. This might be pretty fanciful, but I had a lot of fun with the idea.

Once again, this was my second attempt at free-motion, and it isn't what it is today, but I had FUN!! I especially enjoyed  free-motioning the octopus, trying to make him with gracefully extended arms, but yet looking menacing.  But the star of this quilt is the "pink fish".  I know the little pink show beta was a plain little female, but I gave her the graceful flowing fins of a male to show how important she was. I had cut out little fish from one of my fish fabrics on the first piece, so added some here. I like the idea of embellishing, so I had sewn on pearls to represent bubbles coming from the fish on the first piece, so did the same on this one, as well to make them similar. Then I added some shells that I had collected from my trips to visit my Mom on South Padre, Texas, during Christmas season, since she was a winter Texan. I used free-motion quilting to illustrate sea weed growing and swaying toward the top.

This wall hanging was selected or juried into the Allwood Audubon Center art quilt exhibit “Habitat: Spaces for all Species” as one of the forty pieces to be shown August, 2004.