Quilty friends are the kind of people who understand that it is possible to fall in love with a piece of fabric. Incredibly Good quilty friends actually give you the piece in question. The batik below was made by Shelley Bauer and I actually had to stop myself from buying it several times. It’s incredibly textured and yes, it is actually pinned to the ceiling. Hard to get a good shot, but the colours and patterns show fairly well here:

I’m not sure I can bring myself to do anything with it besides quilt it….. (maybe with irridescent and metallic threads, possibly couched with silver cording here and there….?) I love it just as it is and am fearful of overdoing it.

More than one person must have my number, though, as I received a whole passel of fibre-related things this year. John gave me an mp3 player (to listen to music and books on tape), new scissors, a new rotary cutter, pins (good ones) and safety pins. My sister-in-law Heather renewed my subscription for Quilting Arts magazine, hence earning my eternal gratitude and bumping herself way up the list of “people who will get my hand-made stuff”. Mom and Dad gave me a 2007 copy of my personal organisation system, without which I would forget absolutely everything including my postal code. Katherine, with incredible care and though, decided to forestall her mother’s approaching early-mid-life crisis by presenting me with a Mercedes. Pocket-sized, even. A girl can dream.