Something Fishy this way comes...

This is one of those quilts that looked really easy and fun. 

Ppffft!  

Cutting out all those indigo rectangles & then finding the center rectangles in the right vibrance was daunting; and I have some serious stash for this!  

I learned really quickly that not all indigo is created equal and just because you have material that may have a sort of Asian theme DOES NOT make it true Japanese elegance.  I was loath to cut into the materials I did have but in the end I wanted the quilt to wrap my battered body up in more than I wanted to simply pet my stash.  

After weeks of putting together those damn little boxes (can you tell I so am NOT a traditional type?) I finally arrived at the place where I could add the sides. The pattern didn't call for sides but in truth the pattern was for a dinky wall hanging.  At the time I only had this dark indigo print left uncut, but I didn't have enough, so off to the quilt shop (several months ago now) I went; and purchased some Moda (I think) indigo(ish) material. 

 auditioning side panels  (sniff; We miss you Miss Jenga-RIP 3/13)

I am totally in love with those center blocks and yummy rich jewel tones.  That rose color just leaps off the deep blue. After adding the side panels I realized I could machine quilt those areas with something fun but then I thought.... 

I'd rather have giant Sashiko koi swimming right up the sides!

so I found a koi pattern online.  

 You can see the side panels I added here with the true Japanese Indigo print inset.  

The frixion pen was useless on this dark material.  I simply disappeared.  So I am using my trusty quilters chalk pencil.  (not the mechanical one yet, I never found that one at festival but did find one at amazon; it's now on my wishlist)

Sketching out Mr. Koi .  He might need a bit of a diet but I realize when the stitching starts that will change the look of him quite a bit.  

using my laptop as design tool. 

showing some sketching mistakes.  Note the loopy swirl that appears to be going back up stream?  Doing this water pattern is hard.  I must remember to keep it as 'flat' as possible.  While my hand wants to get all flourishy it's a discipline I must practice to keep the water lines nearly straight horizontal

taking out the swirls for now.  

I will leave it here and look at it again tomorrow with more rested eyes.  

I can't wait to start stitching this and adding water and some plant things near the 'bottom' but tomorrow I must machine quilt the entire center section first with all the boxes.  I will be doing simple stitch in the ditch for that.  There is far too much going on in those boxes to add busy quilting there.   

Oh for more hours in the day!  

now to my cuppa and a shower. 

nitey nite!