Monday Morning Inspiration - Free Motion Quilting Fossils

Ammonite image from fossils direct and my exercise

I'm in the process of making a quilt for an exhibition on the topic of "Evolution". As I was still thinking about what I'm going to do, it struck me how some fossils resemble quilted images in that they stand out as a relief from their background. I invite you today to take some inspiration for your quilting designs from those made by the Evolution.

Just check out this image from the Gallery of Trilobites at the American Natural History Museum website. Doesn't it just beg to be quilted?

Gabriceraurus dentatus (Raymond and Barton, 1913)

Here is another fossil - a 48-million-years-old snake on display at the Messel Museum in Southern Germany, photo by Phil from Flicr. Notice the exquisite detail, the waves in those bones, wouldn't it look marvelous when quilted?

Everybody loves ammonites (no, really, don't you?). This beautiful ammonite is from Fossilsdirect website (where it is for sale, actually). Can you resist the urge to render it in fabric and thread?

Tmetoceras scissum (Rare)

I couldn't. This actually was a piece of practice before quilting my archaeopteryx fossil, which is the centerpiece of my Evolution quilt. I had to check out how the thread and the fabric crayons would behave, and I rather liked the result, though it is not as geometrically perfect as Evolution's designs))

And here is, finally, my birdie, quilted, but not yet colored in:

Would you like to try quilting fossils? There are plenty of beautiful pictures of them on the Internet, do check them out and get inspired for the week!