completion

This play mat for my granddaughter isn't a fancy quilt. But I'm sharing it with you because it's finished and it's the first thing I've made in ages. I whipped up the whole thing in a day - using what I had. The top is made from left-overs from a giant duvee cover that I cut down to fit. The backing and binding is a purple cotton that I'd had in the cupboard for years just waiting for the right moment. And the wadding is a quilted mattress protector - doubled for extra thickness. Everything is machined and simply quilted "in the ditch". And I rounded the corners so I wouldn't have to mitre. (Why doesn't everyone make quilts with rounded corners? It's so much easier). But the binding needed to be folded over and hand stitched on the back. For months I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Finally I worked on it while watching the semifinals of the ICC cricket world cup (New Zealand vs South Africa) on television. It was such a thrill. New Zealand won. And I finished the quilt. Mexican wave!

Reading: French milk by Lucy Knisley and Not my father's son by Alan Cumming
Viewing: Billy Apple: the artist has to live like everybody else showing at the Auckland Art Gallery