Boat Race 2008

Boat Race 2008, originally uploaded by alisoninlondon.

While I'm listening to this epic Wimbledon battle, I thought I'd blog about this little quilt. It actually is a rectangle, despite the skew-wiffiness of the photo.

The 2007 Boat Race was the first one I'd seen - although I grew up sitting on riverbanks at other rowing regattas. And when I lived in Boston I went along to the Head of the River contest.

But in 2008 the weather was absolutely shocking in London, and they were seriously talking about the boats sinking. I adore the BBC's coverage of this classic Oxford v Cambridge race and am so sad that 2009 was the last year they'll be televising it.

But... the aerial shots really struck me. And I sat and sketched, and sketched some more. Then I started cutting and many, many fabrics were auditioned. In the end, all of the applique was from one of Amy Butler's striped Forest fabrics, and some Kaffe Shot Cotton (for the heads). The black thread tails were left unclipped (my flatmate tells me that's her favourite part) and the dark navy background left unquilted - the natural ripples are so like water it would be impossible to improve on it.

I am so attached to this quilt - it almost looks like an aboriginal design, so with the combo of rowing, and hints of Aus, it was the work of one day, but I guess I had been thinking about the design for years.....