Atearoa

   In 2002 my husband and I had the great joy of visiting New Zealand and Australia. We were met in Auckland by our son-in-law's parents who were Kiwis by birth and given the best tour of the North Island that anyone could imagine. Of course, I visited quilt shops whenever I had the opportunity and came home with quite a few fat quarters of  beautiful fabric with unique New Zealand designs, mainly from the Maori culture.
   In the years since then, I've often thought of how I could put all these different fabrics together in a quilt. Many different patterns came to mind, but I was never sure enough of any one pattern to start cutting up those lovely, colourful pieces. To begin with, they were all very different in colours and designs and I only had one fat quarter of each. So I wanted a pattern that would blend them all, but still show each of them to advantage.
   Finally, fourteen years later, I decided to "take the plunge" and what you see below is the result.
Although the pattern looks complicated, it is really very simple, being a "disappearing four-patch." After I had the top completed, I decided to add a border of "prairie points" to finish  it off. All the fabrics, with the exception of the black sashing/ border is from "down under." I called it "Atearoa", the Maori name for New Zealand.  I'm happy with the result and glad I've finally put those lovely fabrics into a quilt where they can be seen and appreciated. I hope you like it, too.