My son has requested a Storm at Sea quilt and he is also enjoys scuba diving. I would like to make one for him that appears to change colors from one side or corner to the other of the quilt that would indicate the water color change from morning sun rise to evening sun set and also undulate like the water rolls on the ocean. Lighter to darker in other words and I am not quite sure how to accomplish the gradation from one color to another. I have always made really basic quilts so trying to change the feel from one point to the other is a real stretch for me and I am not at all sure how to approach it. Any suggestions/tutorials/visuals/book suggestions would be most appreciated. Thanks, Ann in TN

I'm sorry I can't help, but some one will come along soon to help.

I've never done one either but I have a few ideas for you.
See if you can find a color sheet with a storm at sea pattern and color it in the way you want. Sounds simple enough but it might not be.
The other thing would be to start collecting blue fabrics from very light (almost white) to very dark (midnight blue). You may not need much of some and it could be the color you need is not even from a "blue" fabric but maybe a flower or a piece of a design from another fabric color family.
Good luck and keep us posted with your progress.
kathyd

I made one but it does not fade, someone will come along before you know it..

Found something on Flickr that might give you an idea or two.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13203716@N03/3913725819/

You could draw it out on graph paper & have fun with some colored pencils designing it yourself :)

Bargello! Check out the search above. Folks show something like what you are looking for in their pictures.

There's another member on the board who just did a quilt for a Navy diver using this technique that came out with great results.

Print some of these and pick up some colored pencils and play with the colors

There are some batik fabrics that go gradually from a darker to lighter shade. I will google to see if I can find what I am thinking of. Hope this makes sense... or even dying some fabric where is gets slightly lighter...I love the look of a storm at sea

Go to Quilter's Cache, she gives you a choice of regular piecing or paper piecing.

The COOLEST Storm at Sea I've ever seen was about four years ago in the quilt gallery of The Quilt Show site.

At the timeI had no idea who the quilter was - the name meant nothing to me.

But I just thought it was brilliant. It took me awhile to figure out how and what she did - I didn't see her explanation, just the quilt photo.

You start with an outline drawing of SaS blocks, and in this case they were on point, which added even more to the illusion.

And you color and shade (with pencils) according to your vision - just working with the patches, ignoring the blocks.

After you've finished coloring, then you construct each block, using your coloring as a template.

I've been wanting to do this for a while.

Is it way more work than doing 64 identical blocks?
You bet!
But the results........

So you start with the blank worksheet.

And you get something like this:
http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/quilt...002977?page=13
(updated with a better link)

And here's another one that took the traditional block but worked some magic with the coloring.
http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/quilt...lts_id/1011202
You might need to be signed in to see it.