How "The Saga of Swamp Girl" series was born:
I was working in my studio one day and all of a sudden several words popped into my head.
"Swamp Girl Goes Prada"
I wrote the words down and then this story popped into my head. As I was writing down the story I realized I wanted to turn it into a quilt.
The Story:
This women was a seamstress for "Edith Head". Edith was the big fashion designer for the Hollywood film industry. The women became disillusioned with Hollywood, namely after Edith took credit for all her designs, This women was also dating Johnny Weissmuller (the guy who play the original Tarzan) at the time. She became pregnant, then Johnny abandoned her. This only added to her pain. She decided to leave Hollywood. So off she went to have her baby in a nearby swamp. The lady loved living in the swamp. So there she stayed to raise her baby girl. Everyone started to call the baby "swamp girl" and the name stuck.
As I was working on this first quilt "Swamp Girl Goes Prada" more stories came to me, so I decided it needed to be a series. After I made this first quilt I realized there needed to be several introduction quilts. So Swamp Girl Goes Prada will really be number 4 in the series. I have not made the first three yet. This is what I think they will be called.
#1 - Swamp Girls Mama
#2 - Baby Swamp Girl
#3 - Swamp Girl is Growing Up
Swamp Girl
Goes Prada
Swamp Girl's mama raised her to love vintage fashion and old movies. On a beautiful spring day "Swamp Girl" was taking her daily walk through the swamp with her swamp friends. When all of a sudden she stumbled upon a vintage Louie Vuitton suitcase. She had to open it right away. Inside was a lovely yellow poke-a-dot skirt and to her amazement a stunning pair of blue vintage Prada pumps.
Goes Prada
Swamp Girl's mama raised her to love vintage fashion and old movies. On a beautiful spring day "Swamp Girl" was taking her daily walk through the swamp with her swamp friends. When all of a sudden she stumbled upon a vintage Louie Vuitton suitcase. She had to open it right away. Inside was a lovely yellow poke-a-dot skirt and to her amazement a stunning pair of blue vintage Prada pumps.
Swamp Girl
Meets Ester Williams
The 5th quilt in the "Saga of Swamp Girl" series, about the adventures of a girl, who’s mother a disillusioned Hollywood seamstress, ran away to have her baby in a far away swamp.
In this particular part of "Swamp Girls" life she was watching the summer Olympic competition of synchronized swimming. Being obsessed with old Hollywood movies, she started to wonder what ever happened to Ester Williams the creator of synchronized swimming. So she looked through her mothers very old Hollywood phone book and found Ester's number. She really didn't think this would be the same number, but it was. So she called Ester and set up a lunch date. Ester was so thrilled to have Swamp Girl interested in synchronized swimming, they spent the whole day in the pool learning all sorts of techniques.
The next day back in the swamp, Swamp Girl decided to practice her new found techniques in her favorite swimming hole. As usual her swamp friends decided to join her.
Meets Ester Williams
The 5th quilt in the "Saga of Swamp Girl" series, about the adventures of a girl, who’s mother a disillusioned Hollywood seamstress, ran away to have her baby in a far away swamp.
In this particular part of "Swamp Girls" life she was watching the summer Olympic competition of synchronized swimming. Being obsessed with old Hollywood movies, she started to wonder what ever happened to Ester Williams the creator of synchronized swimming. So she looked through her mothers very old Hollywood phone book and found Ester's number. She really didn't think this would be the same number, but it was. So she called Ester and set up a lunch date. Ester was so thrilled to have Swamp Girl interested in synchronized swimming, they spent the whole day in the pool learning all sorts of techniques.
The next day back in the swamp, Swamp Girl decided to practice her new found techniques in her favorite swimming hole. As usual her swamp friends decided to join her.
Swamp Girl
Spots the “DOLLY-LAMA“
The sixth quilt in the "Saga of Swamp Girl" series, about the adventures of a girl, who’s mother a disillusioned Hollywood seamstress, ran away to have her baby in a far away swamp.
Today Swamp Girl sits on her favorite hill doing yoga with her swamp friends. She had heard the Dalai Lama was coming to the swamp for a visit. Her mother had talked about this special spiritual person and Swamp Girl thought is would be wonderful to see him and hear what he had to say. She had seen an old photo of him along time ago when she was a little swamp girl. As she looks out over the river she envisioned him being a very old man wearing glasses.
Swamp Girl then spots two strange looking figures coming out of the trees by the river. Could her eyes be playing tricks on her, or is this the “DOLLY-LAMA” that she heard about. This pair is not what she expected.
Spots the “DOLLY-LAMA“
The sixth quilt in the "Saga of Swamp Girl" series, about the adventures of a girl, who’s mother a disillusioned Hollywood seamstress, ran away to have her baby in a far away swamp.
Today Swamp Girl sits on her favorite hill doing yoga with her swamp friends. She had heard the Dalai Lama was coming to the swamp for a visit. Her mother had talked about this special spiritual person and Swamp Girl thought is would be wonderful to see him and hear what he had to say. She had seen an old photo of him along time ago when she was a little swamp girl. As she looks out over the river she envisioned him being a very old man wearing glasses.
Swamp Girl then spots two strange looking figures coming out of the trees by the river. Could her eyes be playing tricks on her, or is this the “DOLLY-LAMA” that she heard about. This pair is not what she expected.