Swimming in Circles

Swimming in Circles

A Koi Fish Quilt for Jimmy
53" x 60"
Started October 2021 - Finished November 2021 - Gifted December 2021

Tiffany and Jimmy were visiting at Christmas (2020). 

I was showing them some of my quilts I had finished when Jimmy said, "I wouldn't mind having a quilt."  I showed him a few examples of different quilt designs, not letting on that I was on an exploratory mission for next year's Christmas gift. He seemed to like ones with a stained-glass effect.

Tiffany also expressed interest in my "Jacob's Ladder" quilt saying that the colors would definitely go with her bedroom. The quilt was merely a flimsy (top only) and hadn't been quilted at that point.

I decided right then that I would gift Tiffany my Jacob's Ladder quilt and make one for Jimmy.

I told Tiffany during the summer that I was going to make Jimmy a quilt and sent a couple of ideas that I had in mind. One was a stained-glass quilt. Jimmy also enjoys playing Zelda, and I picked a couple of ideas that were along those lines. Tiffany said she wanted to find some examples of ideas that she thought Jimmy would like and would get back to me. The next thing I knew, she had sent me some sample ideas from Etsy with koi fish.

A koi fish quilt??? That was completely different than what I was thinking. How does one go about making koi fish? My idea for a gift for Jimmy had moved into making an art quilt thanks to my artistic daughter.

I mulled over this dilemma for several days. I looked everywhere for a pattern for koi fish. I didn't want anything that was cartoony. I couldn't find a koi fish pattern but instead had to rely on some pictures of the samples Tiffany had chosen.

I knew that I wanted to use aqua and blue batik fabrics for the water background. I also thought I would use half-square triangles for the design to represent the water ripples and quickly started that.

As I continued to think about making the fish, I thought I could applique the fish on top of the water. However, I had never done applique before. Several YouTube videos later, I felt semi-prepared to do some raw edge applique, but I still didn't know how to make a fish made from fabric look like a fish.

I copied a photo that Tiffany had sent to me as an example. I had to enlarge it multiple times to get it to be large enough for the quilt. I then traced around the silhouette to get the shape of the fish. 

Sample koi fish idea from Tiffany

I adhered Heat & Bond to the different fabrics for the fish and then traced the pattern to cut them out. Then I cut out different "blotches" to represent the spots on the fish. The fins and tails were made by adding small (matchstick size) orange strips. The fish were appliqued with a tight zigzag blanket stitch around each component of the fish bodies so when the quilt was washed, nothing would ravel. I didn't know how many fish would be needed when I started. I continued making fish to "fill" the water pond and ended up with seven koi fish. The placement of the fish was to simulate how koi fish swim together and then disperse when they meet.

One of the koi fish

Although the photo inspiration had pie-pieced segments for the lily pads, I chose to make the green lily pads with just one fabric for each pad. 

Throughout the process, I would send updates to Tiffany by text. At the final update, Tiffany asked if I would be making the lily flowers. I thought, "How will I accomplish that???" My inspiration photo did not have flowers. It was back to Pinterest to find some sample lily flowers. I cut out multiple petals and did a tight zigzag stitch with light pink thread around each petal to provide a hint of color.

I felt that the quilt needed a border. I didn't have any batik fabric in colors that would complement the quilt, so I went on a shopping expedition to Ben Franklins. While there, I took photos of some different options and sent them to Tiffany. With text messages going back and forth while I was still in the store, we decided upon a fabric that was blue blue with a slight green tint to it.

The backing fabric was ordered online.

For the quilting, I SID around each fish and did a FMQ meander stitch to simulate flowing water.

Jimmy had no idea that he would receive a quilt for Christmas but loved it.

I've named this quilt "Swimming in Circles" because at times, I felt that I was swimming in circles as I tried to make this quilt. It may have been a challenge, but I can now say that I've made an art quilt.

Every quilt tells a story. This is the story of making my first art quilt, learning to do applique, and making a pattern where there wasn't one to make koi fish, lily pads, and water lilies.

Every Quilt Tells a Story
Whether it is the fabrics chosen, the design, the colors, the occasion, the recipient, or the people I quilt with, every quilt tells a story. This blog captures in images and words what has been created for others and for my own home through the hum and stitching of my sewing machine.