Beach Crazy

My friend, John, and I met 29 years ago this month.  He's getting settled back into his home office after a rather extensive time with his desk in another area of the house.  Naturally, I think he should have a quilt in the room.   He doesn't disagree, and with a couple dozen of my quilts in their house we think that won't be a problem! 

However, until he happens onto the reading chair he wants in his office (which, given his nature and interests, is primarily a library) none of the quilts is going to migrate there just yet.  I asked, 'I think you need a small quilt, just to put on your desk, don't you think?"  "I'm sure that I do, yes."  (He's been married for 25 years, so he understands the value of just agreeing with a woman when she proposes something that he doesn't feel strongly enough about one way or another to argue about.)

I had been pondering what small quilt to make for his desk when I realized that I already had the perfect piece, albeit it not quite finished.   I'm in a bit a of a crazy craze, working especially on some smaller pieces, and a neutral-colored crazy piece has been a favorite of mine.  It's perfect for John, who is a beach kind of guy.  So, I pulled it out, quilted it (lightly) and bound it.  The photo doesn't show the stitching as clearly as it might, and you may not be able to tell the the row in the upper right corner consists of small shells.  For some reason, I especially like the appliqued circles scattered on the surface and will be doing that in some future crazies.

It's not just beachiness that he loves, but also the sea, so the backing is just a very subtly-patterned blue batik, to simulate the water--should he want a change.