Thinking about pattern and how it relates to New Zealand I immediately thought of the Canterbury Plains. This is close to where I live and has miles of patchwork paddocks and farms leading up to the Mountains (the Southern Alps).

There are parts that are barren and isolated with soil that isn’t that fertile through to the lush green pastures for both sheep and cattle. Intermixed with that are cropping farms producing wheat, barley, oats and chaff and in even more recent times Sunflowers.

The plains were riverbeds a long time ago so very stony in parts and very dry. To counter balance that we have the snow melting from the ice capped mountains that flow down through the paddocks to the sea.

I have tried to capture the different types of fields with both colour and quilting. I have used the quilting to flow down and over the paddocks and particularly through the blues and out the bottom.

Machine pieced and quilted with hand dyed and hand painted fabrics. Size 40in H x 22in W