May I Introduce Mr. Blue!

Yep!  He's finished!  Now I just need to decide where or what to do with him!  I'm just figuring out what I'm doing with my beaded leaf!  HA  Mr. Blue weighs 3.5 oz. and is 7" high and 7 3/4" wide.  My leaf weighs a little over 5.5 oz. and is 10.5" high and 12" wide.

I started Mr. Blue, March of 2016, so that's not all bad and I didn't do any beading on him for several months because of my wrists!

Not sure if this animation is able to be seen but hope so!

This was the free coloring page I found that inspired me to create a squirrel

...and the reason for 'blue' was to create a quilt for our traveling exhibit here in Michigan.  We were each creating an art quilt based on the work of George Rodrique who always painted the Blue Dog.  Since I figure everyone would do a blue dog I thought I'd do a blue squirrel!     If you are interested in how I started Mr. Blue or my leaf, you can read my article in Quilting Arts Magazine, issue Oct/Nov 2015.

After I finished the beading, I removed the paper backing around the area (very carefully!). I did cut one thread holding some beads so I just sewed back through the beads to secure.  I said you have to do this part "very carefully" and don't watch football while you cutting!  Dang Michigan!  If you look close at this picture you will see some of the white area.

I used some Jacquard fabric paint, Indigo Blue, and painted all along the edge to cover the white pellon/printed piece.  This works so well...you can also use a marker pen but I like to use fabric paint if I can find the right color.

I had a helper while covering up the white areas!!!

And now no white shows so he's all ready to be attached to a quilt or canvas or just sit and stare at me for a year or two!  but he's done!  He will have some black beads for whiskers on the side of his face when he's attached.  I'll actually bead those down first then attach Mr. Blue.

WooHoo...now what should I bead next!