The miniature tidal waves are rolling! After finishing the first one, I still had quite a few objects in my pile that just didn't find a place for inclusion. So, I decided to stitch a second. At the time, I feared that my stash of "little things" wasn't quite large enough for a second piece. I spent about an hour "hunting and gathering" until I had a large pile of small objects ... enough for perhaps four more miniature tidal waves.
It was easy to locate small scraps of quilts and other vintage fabric for the backgrounds. I spent an entire evening or two outlining the perimeters and waves with buttons. Then, I was ready to place my stash ... basically, designing all four at the same time!
It only took one afternoon to make the decisions of which objects went on which tidal wave. Each piece was taken upstairs. I do most of my hand-stitching in the evenings ... upstairs in the living room while we watch whatever Steve streams on television.
It didn't take long for the first of the four to be stitched. These miniatures allow me to use some of the random beads that I have collected. Their small size also means that I need to stitch much more densely in the areas where the wave isn't covering the quilt background. Why? Well, the scraps are old, fragile, and often threadbare. Like my Found Object Mandalas and the larger Tidal Waves, I cover the quilt with a layer of netting/tulle before adding any of the objects. This netting/tulle protects the fragile surface, but on these little ones, it is actually more obvious than on a larger piece. By stitching/quilting the background, I can integrate the netting/tulle to the quilt. Most people wouldn't even see the netting/tulle after that area is embellished!
