Under the Sea Round Robin Block for Linda

Being the first to work on a traditional 12" round robin block is always a challenge.  I like to let the fabrics guide me and set the tone for the project.  For Linda's block, I used fibers in the green and blue shades to pull color across the block and provide some initial balance.  

With under the sea themed round robins, so often, no one embellishes the seams, but I really wanted to use one of the long seams to create a watery themed seam treatment.  It's quiet enough to fade into the background yet could be used to enhance the under the sea theme if someone else wants to add little fishes to it.  I really believe that good seam embellishments are the heart of crazy quilting and that they provide the foundation for the rest of the block.  

Most of my work is confined to the left side of the block.  For a long time, I've been collecting fibers and trim in sea themed colors and they worked beautifully on this block to create a bed of seaweed!  

I still have a few little glass fish beads which I added.

At the base of the seaweed, I added a starfish, a sea urchin and a little shell bead as well as some sand.  I'll be sending along a tiny baggie of beads in case someone wants to use some of the same beads elsewhere on the block to give it continuity as I know some  the beads I used aren't very easily found.  

One of the biggest challenges for me with the big traditional 12" blocks, is knowing when to stop and leaving enough space for everyone else to add their own work!  I could happily have kept stitching and filled this entire block!  I look forward to seeing what the other participants add to this!