"Te Ika a Maui" (The Fish of Maui)
Appliqué Quilt - Ku Bailey

3 sections representing three major islands of New Zealand: the North Island, the South Island, and Stewart Island.  The individual quilts are tied together with woven flax rope made by the artist.
Satins and silks create water effects.

Companion machine-sewn 8-page fabric book crafted by the artist with the myth stitched into the pages. 27cm x 32cm

NZ$4,000

Awards

1st place Open New Zealand. Theme Challenge, Auckland Patchwork and Quilters' Guild annual Christmas "Calico Exhibition" 2002.

Exhibitions

Salute to Quilts National Exhibition, exhibited during America's Cup week 2002, Auckland
Auckland Patchwork and Quilters' Guild Christmas "Calico Exhibition 2002

Maori Myth of the Origin of the Islands of New Zealand

  Maui went fishing using his grandmother's jawbone as the hook and her blood as bait. Maui caught a huge fish which is the North Island of New Zealand, known in Maori as "Te Ika a Maui", or the Fish of Maui. The South Island was formed by Maui's waka (canoe) and the anchor stone became the southern-most of the three major islands of New Zealand, Stewart Island.

Te Ika a Maui - The Fish of Maui