Apparently I wasn't ready to be done beading when I finished the final ATC for last year's BJP. Instead of starting a new project for January of this year I pulled out one of the unfinished journal quilts I was making during the first year of the BJP. That first year I finished nine out of 12 pieces. I had foundations pieced for all 12 though.
While DH was home from work during the holidays he and I took a little road trip up north to check out a bead shop I'd never been in before. A couple of doors down was a needlepoint, knitting, and stitchery shop. That's where I found the discounted ball of the rainbow yarn you'll see in the picture below. And that's what reminded me of this particular journal quilt!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4iRfMJnl-98Cxv8__0bVtpvPJtuUk0NNT1-ozIfhn93Zjywrrc2_-v-WXM0UG4uGNlewnNgSEzhjDVzKjfWfm-evrsaaUxsMYDlthDtAFVHAaj3BQjBOxwZydqmUzEWbnNLNeQ6YK1lR/s400/IMG_1961.JPG)
The batik panel of the head with the fish was part of a set I acquired many, many years ago. It might have been 4.5" square to begin with. The whole quilt will finish at about 8.5 x 11 inches. I remember that I had a vague idea of how I wanted to embellish at least the bottom of the quilt. I must not have had the right materials at the time though because I never got started.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3s_4JBFyDHM5Rm7AKzFYeVlg2ecxyiP_hw_qoy_nVWdnqjEw24or2qWPUAUgoLzxoVfEXURxasF-2NzzVTxy4sYsaYsbrg1EL0MimkD3HgMGys_8Q59FXK_goYGIW0z0Q12CiODRrawk1/s400/IMG_1963.JPG)
I bought the rainbow yarn thinking it would make great doll hair. Turns out it also makes delightful seaweed! I didn't even realized there were nubby bits in the yarn until I started cutting it up to couch onto this quilt.
Once I had that "plant" in place it seemed natural to work on the rest of the sea bed. More yarn was involved in that process. The photo below shows a prospective layout for more sea life on the ocean floor.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGAGe9yO5jQe6Y5PkINW8SunYOwSBdHPPCgx1KhHt3WhDXgzgf8Nt6yM9_BV7PS2oyAaRLQAygt-v8tWLhl-bDfzZKI0yklebUIGVddWiEXCLBpeR-xSMJnV22b6oD5rOEFyTojm1ktE80/s400/IMG_1967.JPG)
This is what it looked like a couple of days later:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNDG7DyRpXC5IEcdxZaxRS677gMV9c9zpuMI_IVr1in6wg3Mt0Kar-fqSy-1bK-MS3VJIBJj189VfTI_l52dbtTk8rMENpcI5ilb_lDt13qHx8_CBQqbOzFBadpBBN-x-EmAlQH9ucAG94/s400/IMG_1973.JPG)
I'm a little worried about getting binding sewn onto the edges of this quilt; those beads are pretty close to the edge and some are bulky. You may notice that I used a bit of gently twisted ribbon to soften the seam line between the pink batik print and the turquoise above it. It was a little tricky to do but I'm really happy with my school of zebra fish swimming by.
;- )This piece has progressed even further since that last photo was taken. As I complete each section it becomes clear what to do in the next section. What a relief! I'd really like to keep working on this until it's done, not get interrupted by anything else, but I can only do so much each day. And I haven't cleaned up the studio enough to be able to work on another project while this one is in process. I consider myself fortunate to have such a
terrible problem!