My Dream Project...
The Paleozoic and Mesozoic coelacanths were largely freshwater and marginal marine. This is why we know a fair amount about them. Both species These are very large fish that live at great depth.
This ... only bigger.
A living fossil, the Coelacanth was thought to be extinct until Christmas day 1938, when one was discovered in a South African fish market. Museum curator Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer was at the fish market, when she came across a specimen that was caught by local fisherman. It took 14 years to find the population around the Comoro Islands. These fish make terrible eating. If they were tasty, people would have known about the sooner.
It took 14 years to find the population around the Comoro Islands. These fish make terrible eating. If they were tasty, people would have known about the sooner.Courtenay-Latimer was at the fish market, when she came across a strange fish that was caught by local fisherman. She immediately reconized it as new and unique. She send off sketches to JLB Smth at Rhodes University. It took 14 years to find a second coelacanth. It was caught off the Comoro Islands. These fish make terrible eating. They are very oily and tend to cause stomach problems for people who eat them. If they were tasty, people would have known about the sooner.
A second species was found off the Sulawesi in the Indonesian Islands in 1998. And a second population was found off the coast of South Africa in the mid 2000s
The Paleozoic and Mesozoic coelacanths were largely freshwater and marginal marine. We know a fair amount about them due to well preserved specimens. Both living species very large fish that live at great depth. The adult coelacanths are 1.8 to 2m standard lenght, which is measured tip of the nose to the base of the tail. They live at depths of about 500 m.
So back to my dream project. I want to make a bed sized with a full sized coelacanth on it. I have my line drawings, I have my templates in the 15 inch and 30 inch varieties. I have the drawing as a vector file in Illustrator so I can go up to the 2 m full size. But these are the issues where I am stuck:
1) that is an 80 inch long applique piece. there are numerous problems that come with doing an 80in long applique piece. that is alot of fusible web if you do fusible web. If you coat the entire back of the fish with fusible then it can get stiff. If you only put fusible around the outer inch of fish then you can run into distortion issues. I can get rolls of Stable Stuff Poly to do turned edge applique for the fish that are 30 inch by 108inchs. This could work but will require a ton of glue sticks and maybe something like a 505 temporary spray adhesive. There are a lot of logistics to work out when you do giant applique. Latemeria #3 is all fusible web for the fish and the fish measures around 30 inches. the fish is stiffer than the rest of the quilt but not unduly stiff. I could also loosen up the quilting I did on the fish himself.
2)Background is an issue. In Latemeria number #1 as shown above I went realistic. But I lacked contrast and that was defiantly a problem. Latemeria #2 I went with a solid black, but the whole piece was more arty less realistic. Latemeria #3 has a pieced diamond in the background. This works better and the appliqued fish is 30ish inches. While I love this quilt, there are things I would still change. the background is still a bit busy, and the fish blends in.
3) Fabrics. The blue pin dot batik I have is a good realistic fabric that is a close match to what they actually look like. But... It is very dark. In both Latemeria #1 and 3 I used the same fabrics and it is just so dark that the fish blends in to what ever the back ground it. There is a beautiful scale print from the Tula Pink Pinkerville line that could work. I would have to go with a printed blue background instead of a batik background. I have an idea for a background but it is using batiks. I could hand dye some navy and get a nice mottled blues and greys for the fish.
As you can see this is an idea I have been playing with and I keep coming back to. I am currently working on a Latemeria #4. I will have 30 in coelacanths on it, I believe if I stick to my drawings it will either about 60x72 or 72x 72 finished or something else entirely. Line drawings are just a guide for you to mess with... Keep you posted!