I just don’t know.

I just cancelled my flights for my second large trip to the USA. Fortunately Qantas is honouring both of my airfares and I can re-book when I need to. I have to cancel to get a re-fund or else I loose it all.

I feel guilty that I’m enjoying my enforced time away from teaching. I realise that many others are doing it much tougher than I am.

‘Ding’, there goes another message headed by the Covid – 19 wording. It must be the 50th message I’ve had that has been delivered to my email and each one means that people are disadvantaged in one way or another. I’m not depressed or even worried really, I’m just a little numb to the whole situation. I just don’t know.

The time has afforded me a wonderful gift. The gift of being home and the gift of time in my studio. Circumstances dictate that I can’t really spend too much time with the Grandies or go the the cancelled programmed Grandparents Day at school, but the downtime has offered me time to think, plan and sit in the garden and enjoy the solidtude. I live a fast life and this situation has added a bit of a punctuation in that experience.

So with that explanation I share what I have finished in the past few days.

The Cat Hat Quilt.

This quilt began as I bumped along the Indian roads in a bus full of wonderful guests. I took out my trusty iPad, perused Pinterest and decided on an idea. The drawing is my own, the inspiration is from an idea.

When you travel, so many things inspire you. I loved the costumes of the Indian Women, but you know and I know that it’s very different to anything we would wear so I decided to create a woman who looked a little bit Indian and I wanted to use the fabric they might wear.

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When I create a quilt it’s generally with an idea to design a new class and so with that in mind the quilt came about.

With the drawing completed I began to look for fabric and I found this sari at a class on dying we attended, it’s a block printed cotton, hand embroidered and very unusual. Green and orange and the purple was a bonus. I think the package was about 8 yards of fabric for around $10.00 US. The cotton had a scrunched effect and I really liked the act that it was different.

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The braid was found in a small market the same afternoon. However, I sort of snatched bought it because one of my ladies was feeling unwell. $2.00 for a 2 metres.

I decided to draw her on an artist canvas and I used Derwent inktense blocks. I had stitched another picture on canvas and coloured it with ink about a year previously and I thought this would work well for this project.

The drawing done with the blocks and then wet with water gives a water colour effect. Mmmmm but the nose was too dark so I had to re-do it. then the applique was fused on over the painted face. The artist canvas was the base.

The colours worked well.

The fabric is extremely fine but it doesn’t fray and it’s 100% cotton. I illustrated the cat with pigment ink and then completed it like any other quilt. The thread was 50 weight black Aurifil and it’s free motion quilted and appliquéd at the same time.

The braid on the border are strands of old silk saris…. Yep, I corrected her noes, the poor thing.

So I finally finished the binding this week, and she is ready to be taught.