This morning Steve and I were out for a walk and this conversation happened:

Steve: I see that you have cut squares of fabric and “glued them down”.

Me: It is called fusing.

Steve: Isn’t that cheating?

Me: What do you mean?

Steve: Well, you are not sewing them together.

Me: This is more painterly. If I sewed them, they would all be the same size and it would look like a quilt. This is why I prefer to call myself a fiber artist and not a quilt artist. Sue Benner says that now that she has had fused quilts in Quilt National at least two times, it must be ok to fuse a quilt.

Steve: Are you going to do any stitching on it?

Me: Of course, I will stitch around the edges to make sure they are secure and do some decorative stitching on the crosses.

Steve: OK

End of the conversation with the nuclear physicist whom I love anyway.

Here is the banner – all fused and stitched around the squares. Just have to stitch the crosses and zigzag the edges. Whew! I might make the deadline. I put it on the floor and stood on a chair in the hallway so the lighting is not very good.