Fish on the Wall
There are fish on the wall in my quilt room. My design wall, that is. You might recall that in 2024 I made improv fish blocks each month, following the colors used by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge group. You can read about that group’s 2025 challenge here. It was a fun way to make color choices each month.
A few months ago, I had the fish up on the design wall. I let them sit there while I thought about how I wanted to arrange them.
I hadn’t really tried to lay them out in any type of order, I just wanted them up so I could see them. They overwhelmed me a bit, so I took them down while I worked on other projects.
Yesterday, after sorting them light to dark, I put them up on the design wall once again. I like this layout much more than the first.
I have started trimming the blocks, getting them ready for the final construction of the quilt. I expect there will still be some rearranging. I do want to keep the flow of light to dark as I work through it. Once I get ready to sew them together, it becomes a bit like putting a puzzle together. It’s both fun and, well, puzzling. Haha.
And then I pulled out Nicholas Sparks’ book, Inspiring Improv, since I used his technique to construct the fish. I thought he might have some construction tips. He has his fish all facing the same direction and uses some blue scraps to create space and movement between the fish. Hmm. Now I’m wondering if I should do something like that rather than having the fish going all directions. I’d like to keep the quilt on the smaller side, so that will factor in as well.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep trimming the fish while I consider where I want this to go. Wilbs has not been much help. You’d think he’d be very interested in all those fish, but . . .
So there will be fish on the wall for awhile. I’ll keep you posted on any exciting progress.
Happy Friday, all!
Wendy
25 Comments
Barbara J Stanbro
That is *very* cute. I’m looking forward to seeing how you finish it.
marissthequilter
You know how much I like your fish!. It is great to see them all together on your wall.
Seeing as you mentioned it in your post, I agree with Sparks that they should all be horizontal swimming in the same direction.
marissthequilter
You know how much I like your fish!. It is great to see them all together on your wall.
Seeing as you mentioned it in your post, I agree with Sparks that they should all be horizontal swimming in the same direction.
texasquiltgal
Your fish scene reminds me of when we used to scuba dive. On the deeper dives (your dark part) we would look up and see fish above us in the light. And of course there were certain fish that only stayed in the deep. I like your layout and personally don’t think that all fish have to follow horizontal swimming patterns!
I love Wilbs, he is so handsome. 🙂
TextileRanger
I do like your light to dark arrangement better than the first. There are so many ways you could arrange them; I know I would be playing with that for a long time before committing! 🙂
Karen
lots of pretty fish on your wall! you will figure out how you want them before you know it!
Vicki in MN
Oh my I feel like I just went snorkeling!! I really like the light to dark layout. We all know you will do a great job of putting it together.
aquilterstable
Puzzling quilts like this together can definitely be challenging. Once you decide for sure the orientation, all will become clearer. Enjoy!
Sara Fridley
Wilbs looks like he is exhausted from too much creative thinking. LOL I like how the light to dark is working. It’s a really fun quilt idea.
Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
I think the flow from light to dark background is really going to make this quilt pop. I hope that trimming the blocks up will help make it clear how they want to go together; sometimes quilts are quite opinionated!
Diann@ Little Penguin Quilts
I love your fish blocks, and had been wondering where they had swum (swimmed?lol!) off to! The dark to light layout is really neat. This will be a fun puzzle to figure out!
Kathleen McCormick
I think this layout is fabulous, and I think you should do as you want. It will be a fun piece to construct, but I am sure you are up to the task!
Cheree Hull
Oh you did get them out! I like the light to dark too! They seem like such a fun project. I was wondering about creating space between them as well…with all the same fabric? or would that be scrappy as well? I think we all want to see how this finishes!
Rochelle Summers
How timely this post is. I was just wondering about this fish yesterday. I like the 2nd layout better than the first. It does seem like a puzzle to me too. But I look forward to more updates on your progress. And I wish you luck. Wilbs may become more interested if one of them swims under his nose!
Vicki Welsh
Oh, I like that layout a lot!
Tracie
Wilbs is *adorable* in your photo! I love the fish and can’t wait to see what you choose to do. The gradient background is a cool effect.
Kate
The fad from light to dark really works. You’ve got lots of design decision to make. Looking forward to seeing how you handle each.
The Joyful Quilter
Nicholas Ball is such a great improv quilter. I keep meaning to make his Fish School quilt, but it keeps sliding down the project list in favor of the small projects I’m SEW fond of!
laura bruno lilly
Fun, fun, fun!
My two cents’ – light/dark delineation , same way horizontal plus ‘space’ as you mentioned from Sparks’ book because even schools of fish leave space between other schools of fish and each other during their swarmy swims.
designsbyheidi
I LOVE the second set up. Looks like sunlight filtering into the water.
Janine @ Rainbow Hare
I love all these fish. I think they’ll look great whichever way you choose 🙂
Danice G
Oh all of the fish look adorable. Very cute!
Quilting is in my Blood
Your improv fish just make me happy! I like the direction you’re heading in your layout.
Laura
I am also liking the light to dark progression, Wendy, and perhaps some space is needed. At any rate, I am excited to see what you come up with…I have a lot of confidence in your design sense! 🙂
tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles
Oh I remember this one and it is looking great – nice progression on the fish 🙂