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"Shivarajyabhishek - Coronation of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj" by Shruti Dandekar 

• 20888 pieces 
• 693 hours of applique
• 41 hours of quilting by Manisha Iyer of Studio Baani (Pune)
• 288 shades of fabric
• 86" x 210"

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE and to be able to Zoom in on the quilt.

Why did I make this quilt? 

Ever since I started making portrait quilts, I had always dreamt of making something larger than life. This project is my attempt at making my dream a reality!

Why this picture?
My home town is Satara, the city which has a rich history. I spent my holidays hiking up the Ajinkyatara - one of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's forts with my cousins and friends. I grew up listening to stories of bravery and righteousness of this great warrior king. And my young mind was influenced by his many qualities.

A little bit about Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He is considered to be one of the greatest warriors of his time and even today, stories of his exploits are narrated as a part of the folklore.He had an inspiring and endearing personality which spontaneously commanded respect, loyalty and the highest sacrifices from his devoted soldiers and peasants. He was also the staunch promoter of secularism and roused the sleeping conscience of the nation. He was the ultimate man of the father of freedom movement in Maharashtra and source of inspiration to the Hindu throughout India.

Chatrapati Shivaji has influenced people for generations. There is just so much to learn from just reading his stories. Artists around me, before me and even today, have used their medium to express their respect and paid tribute to this inspirational hero. There are many films, books, paintings, songs even rangolis that have been created to pay homage to Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. I am using my medium - quilts- to do just that.
I chose this specific image because it is the most glorious moment in his life, where the dream that he saw since the age of 16 was finally realized. The coronation ceremony in itself was an iconic event that spoke of the grandeur and strength of the Maratha empire and Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj himself.

Making this quilt taught me a lot of things - patience, consistency, priorities, and skills. It also gave me a glimpse into people’s minds and what they thought about me. I believe after a 10 month effort, I have emerged on the other side as a better person!!!

Shruti sent a video just to give you an idea of the size.

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Story Submitted by mrs-mookie.

When my young son (now age 15) played baseball, it made me crazy. I cringed as he was at bat, I closed my eyes each time he threw a pitch, and when he fielded the ball, I prayed really hard. If he made an error, I was a basket case for the rest of the game. When he graduated from Little League and became a serious baseball player, I said the heck with this. I'll take a project to the games and concentrate on that, while peripherally enjoying the game. So I went to my trusty fabric shop and got the fabric to make twelve blocks, based on Judy Martin's Carnival Ride block with Laurel Burch's Jungle Song elephants as the focus. Needless to say, my son was less than pleased. Not only was his mom not really watching him play, but now HE had to be the kid with the weirdo mom who was all covered with thread and pieces of fabric, scissors clipped to her shoulder, and pins stuck all in her (uh-hum) bosom. As the quilt grew larger and larger (and larger still), so did his embarrassment. This quilt took on a life of its own, as you know quilts are prone to do. It said, "Shouldn't I have a picture in the middle?" Well, I don't really draw, but okay, so I doodled a couple of elephants. "Wouldn't it be better if the picture was on point?" asked the quilt. Quilts have absolutely NO IDEA how big they will grow when they turn their medallion on point, do they? Alright. "I want Swarovski crystals on my polka dots!" it cried. Do you have any idea how many crystals that is? how much time? money? So I ordered 15 gross of 8 different colors and I still ran out. Then, according to the original plan, I hand pieced a beautiful pinwheel border for the edge, but when I put on the inner border the quilt said, "I'm done now. I'm sorry you made all those blocks, but I don't need them. Oops." Shoot! All that trouble for nothing. But what's a quilter to do? Quilts are SMART. We just have to listen to them and then sit back and admire the phenomenal results. That's what it is all about.

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As a lot of the Quilting World has been watching with bated breath the social media posts from Quilt Market in Kansas City, I have been on the other side of the nation visiting family. It has been interesting to me that as of late I have been on a weeklong quilting fast and have dived head first into my cross stitch world. I know many of you are quilting purist...but, I am a Heinz 57 kind of stitcher. I truly love anything that requires me to hold a needle and thread.

I had the good fortune of seeing some of my creations when visiting my sister this week. She has been my longest quilting fan, and so it is fun for me to visit her home and see some of my creations hanging or lying around. One of the fun things about seeing these older works is I can see how far I have come in my stitching, LOL. And yet, admire the variety of challenges I stepped up to embrace. Needle turn appliqué, Sashiko, button hole appliqué...to name a few. I feel like I have just sampled the tip of the quilting ice berg and wonder what I will challenge myself with next!?

Is there anything in the stitching world that you have not tried but is on your list to give a go??? Let's make the second half of this year a stitching adventure!

(Note: This is not a slideshow, but a photo collage.)

Click here for Anna's blog.

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Alex Anderson gets to ask longarm questions of Connie Fanders, the Director of Education at BERNINA USA. Alex wants to know what the difference is between the Q20 vs Q24. She also asks about some of the features that BERNINA brings to the longarm game.

Watch them make the BERNINA Longarm in 2 minutes. Fun video. Plus, he's cute.

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We love this cheerful quilt, Sunflower, by Sara Bradshaw and Danielle Johnson. Not only is it bright and colorful, it seems to have an unlimited number of quilting designs. How many do you think there are?

Sunflower was on exhibit as part of the Small Wall Quilts - Movable Machine Quilted exhibit at AQS QuiltWeek Spring Paducah 2019.

60" x 53"

Quilting Method: Stationary Machine, Movable Machine

Quilt Techniques: Machine Appliqué, Free-Motion Quilting, Improvisational Piecing, Machine Piecing

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Wouldn't this block make a great Christmas tree if you used the right fabrics? Find out what it's called when you play the Jinny Beyer Memory Match game.

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Alex Anderson's "Under The Sea" Quilt Kit

This wonderful whimsical design pairs modern bright solids with traditional half-square triangles and flying geese for a bold contemporary quilt that moves from a warm energized center to a calm cooling border. 

The "Under the Sea" Kit includes the "Under the Sea" pattern, a 25 piece Kona Cotton fat-quarter solids bundle, 2-3/8 yards of white background fabric, and the pattern and instructions to construct the quilt.