This is a portrait of my mother as a young girl, likely about 16 years of age, which I made into a raw-edge applique quilt, entitled Going on 17. I took the photograph and turned it into a map by digitally tracing it and reducing it to six shades of grey. Then it was a matter of carefully cutting and fusing an array of batik fabrics. You could also call this method “colouring with fussy-cuts”! I free-motion machine quilted it on my domestic Bernina using clear nylon filament thread on the front. Many firsts in this project, but I was happy with the process and result, so I will be endeavouring to make a series of these portraits.