Mermaids Begins

While I will be talking much about how this is going, these are the only pictures you will see of Mermaids until it is done and I know whether or not it is accepted in a show. I was just perusing my latest Fiberarts magazine when I found a call to entry for a show in Lowell, MA whose theme is the sea. Hmmmm........ I would have until June 15 to finish this one and get them an entry. I'm going to try, anyway. Above are my choices for lights, medium and dark tones for the water.
Violets, yellows and greens comprise the spectrum for the mermaids themselves.
...and here it all is sitting on my work table. I'm only missing one key piece. My sky. I just can't seem to find just the right mix of pale blue, pink, yellow, peach and gray. Still searching all my fabric haunts for that one key piece.

The cartoon was completed for this one a while ago, but I am tweeking some of the lines. I need for it to seem very fluid and not stiff at all. The size is so large that I need to put it sideways on my table and it's width exceeds the width of my work wall by about 18". Nevertheless, I am very excited about this being a challenge to finish in time for a show. We'll see how it goes. I am still hand stitching the wolf at night. Once he is done I will have to shift gears to "Mermaids" almost all of my spare time to get it done. Wish me luck!

As a post script to this post, I have found a wonderful backing fabric, 108" wide and I think I have found my sky. Thanks to Hancock's of Padukah and Seawatch Fabrics! I'll be watching my mailbox for the next few days.