In 2002, the saga of this young woman and the mystery and enchantment she beset upon McCurry continued, when he finally found her again–seventeen difficult years later. I remember reading that story, and the fact that the first picture he took of her was the first time she’d ever seen a camera; when he found her again, it was the second time her photo had been taken. In rural Afghanistan, traditional customs still rule, and McCurry was allowed unusual access to this woman–now married with several children.

What I didn’t realize until now is that McCurry’s photographs are known for their very saturated color, an effect which he gets by using Kodachrome. I have sen hundreds of his portraits, of people across cultures, and never knew what was behind this rich and fascinating quality.

Kodachrome was discontinued last year, and the company gave the very last roll to McCurry. He’s currently working on taking the last 36 shots with this film, and taking his time to ensure each one will live up to the responsibility he has been given. (There’s only one place in the country that even develops them, in Parsons, Kansas.) Based on the book of his portraits, and his lifetime of vision, creativity, and global exposure, he’s got a proven set of eyes.

The winding entrance

Trees that reach out and up like open hands lined the long, winding entrance road to Yangzhou University. There was a bit of debate as to why the trunks were painted white, but the most logical conclusion is that they reflect for better night vision. Hallways and roadways are dark at night in most Chinese cities, as these extra lights would be huge electricity hogs. I walked down this corridor at night several times, at least once by myself, and never once felt at all unsafe; the same can be said for the hallways of my dorm building. It was just a superfluous electrical function. I don’t know how much that will change in the future, but I found the white stripes added even more character to the welcoming road into campus, and actually did make the road’s edges show up. It was refreshing to see such alternatives to long electrical wires and light poles snaking all the way down the vista. And the road was rarely used to cars, as no students had them, and cabs were not allowed past the main gates; this made meandering walks more tranquil. (Photos, 2007)

Student art displayed down another campus road

I was always charmed and delighted by the various art created by students that was positioned throughout the campus. This was an open exhibition, but I was also lucky enough to be shown one of their studios. Pictures of that to come.

We used poster board taped toegther to create the homemade pattern, giving each square its essential, unique shape.

The piecing was done to refect the original look, but I took each little design in my own direction. This is the quilt body at five rows, around the start of July.

For color scheme, I wanted to keep the palette close to the pastel and pale dominating colors that bound the original quilt, because that base is what makes all the bold squares really pop. Right as the fall semester was starting, I finished the eighth and final row on the quilt front (nine would have made it disproportionately long, so I opted to stop at eight). A few weeks later, I bought the backing fabric, a funky Amy Butler design I found at my local Red Hen Fabrics. My mom taught me a mitered corner, and I successfully created a bold black frame around my quilt front. It was ready to be quilted.

I learned mitered corners while applying the black edging fabric that would frame the quilt face.

She called me with the good news about three weeks ahead of my estimated completion date, which meant that after everything, I was going to finish the job in time for Christmas. All that was left was the binding, which I again learned from my mother. I used a nice stone-colored fabric for the binding, and hand-stitched the entire back side as I learned this final step.

The finished quilt face, at the start of September.

The entire quilt was a learning process. Every little technique was taken into this larger project as an essential and important skill, one that must be accurate and provide the professional touch that learned quilters look for. Learning from my mother, there was no way I could do things in an amateur way, which is why piecing each square was just as important as reverse applique, and little things like seam allowances had to be accurate. Those skills translate into many other areas of sewing and design, and knowing how things are made when I see them only makes me want to start all over again with a new design. But I’m not quite so crazy; I’ll give it a few months at least. I have mastered the mitered corner (OK, I’ve only somewhat grasped it) and learned some tips and tricks on making a professional-looking doubled-over binding. Along the way, I also bought my own sewing machine (having grown up using my mom’s trusty Viking) and have definitely mastered threading and cleaning that thing.

The quilt comes alive with the quilting lines, which I had done professionally in order to maintain the technical mastery I had tried to keep with my quilting.

Look closely to see the geometric quilting pattern running through the entire body. The reverse-side fabric is an Amy Butler design. That is also some of my hand work on the appliqued binding.

Close-up of the corner I used to make the binding look lovely.

Most importantly, it is Avery-approved, so it's a cuddly spot for Ben's cats too. She spent a lot of time snoozing in my quilt basket too, getting hair on the fabrics that would grow into this quilt.