Tidal Wave V, The Rubber Duckies

 

(Above:  Tidal Wave V, The Rubber Duckies. Custom framed: 37 1/4" x 37 1/4".  Assorted rubber duckies and buttons hand-stitched to a section of a vintage quilt.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

While I was enjoying a month-long art residency in Montana, Steve continued to visit the Pickens County flea market ... every Wednesday morning.  One week, he scored big!  He bought a large tub of assorted rubber duckies.  According to the dealer who sold them, there were over three-hundred.  Looking at the duckies I have left, the dealer was correct!  There are about as many still in the tub as are stitched to this piece!

 

(Above:  Detail of Tidal Wave V.)

In order to create this piece, I prepared the surface.  By this, I mean that I cut a vintage quilt to the size needed for a large stretcher bar. The quilt section was stapled to this stretcher bar.  Next, I placed a piece of sheer off-white netting over the surface.  I do this in order to protect any fragile/worn/tattered areas.  Then, I stitched the button outline and added the star-shaped embroidery in the area where there would be no duckies.  The vintage quilt was tied, not densely quilted.  Thus, the star-shaped stitches went over the tie ends.  This helps integrate the sheer netting to the quilt.  You can't even see it in these photos!  In person, I can point it out but most people don't even see the netting!

(Above:  Detail of Tidal Wave V.)

Then, I tacked down the duckies using a bare minimum of hot glue.  It was the only way to cover "the wave" adequately and spread out the colors of the duckies.  Stitching through rubber is hard enough.  Stitching through hot glue is really, really hard ... so not much is used ... certainly not enough to seriously attach them, just tack them down "a little"!

 

(Above:  Detail of Tidal Wave V.)

It took several days to stitch all the duckies.  Some of them were easy to stitch.  Most required a part of pliers to get the long needle through the colorful creatures.  Several needles broke.  Some swearing was involved.  I used plenty of hand lotion every night to help revive my fingers.  Yet, it was really fun to do!  

(Above:  Tidal Wave V and me!)

Jim Henson's voice played in my mind constantly ... singing along with the Muppet Ernie who debuted the song Rubber Duckie on the Sesame Street episode of February 25, 1970.  Steve loves oldie countdowns on Sirius radio and knew that the song was a hit single ... number sixteen on the Billboards Hot 100.  As I finished the piece, Steve snapped a rough photo of it and printed it.  We numbered the duckies on the photo ... 151 rubber duckies!  That's a lot of duckies!