This was my first time participating in a quilt exchange and enter for a show.

I have long been fascinated by the intricacy and variety of snowflakes. Many years ago I took a class with Paula Nadelstern on piecing intricate snowflakes using blue and white fabrics. At that time, I completed three snowflakes, but then put the project aside. I only recently returned to it to finish the quilt for an upcoming gallery show in Iceland. In addition to basing a couple of my flakes on Paula's published designs, I really enjoyed finding unique snowflake photographs and drafting my own original designs, then interpreting them in cloth, and finally combining them into a snowfall. I added even more flakes in the subtle quilting patterns. The result is, I think, the ultimate blue and white quilt.

 

"Snowfall" has been accepted into the Sapphire Celebration special exhibit at the 2019 Houston International Quilt Festival.

This is a Jewel Box quilt pattern using fabric from the Calypso fabric line for the half square triangles, and several batiks from my stash for the squares. It has a flanged binding.  It was named Diamond Lake after a lake in Oregon where my family and I camped and my daughter had her first canoe trip.  At the time there was a large gathering of square dancers and they put on an impressive and entertaining square dance in the parking area near the boat docks... thus the squares surrounding the diamonds.  These happen to be some of my favorite colors and I loved working on it and watching it evolve.  

Quilt Stats : 

20888 pieces 
693 hours of applique
41 hours of quilting by Manisha Iyer of Studio Baani (Pune)
288 shades of fabric

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!!!

Woman and Elements Revolve - With one limb in each of the 4 elements ... earth, air, water, and fire ... Woman both controls and is controlled by them.

Split Infinitives - This quilt resulted after I took a workshop with artist Gerry Chase where we did a lot of painting on fabric and free drawing using a tjanting tool (the traditional tool for drawing with wax to make batik fabric). These squiggle circles really speak to me!

Love is Not Always Just Black & White - The blocks in this quilt were paper pieced. The quilt was created for an auction benefitting an organization which serves children and adults with autism. The strong color scheme speaks to the harsh realities of life with an autistic family member, while the quilting pattern of hearts and loops, and the use of fabrics with hearts and words of love serve to remind us that love is what helps make the impossible, possible.

Wendy's Gardem - I fell in love with when I just started quilting. It had Cats and Orchids! It took me 2 years to finish the top. This quilt was put into the closet for a few years and forgotten about. Our guild had a guest speaker who specializes in hand quilting. Through the guild I sent this talented quilter, Wendy’s Garden. She did a WONDERFUL job, don’t you think!!

Trapunto Pansies - I joined our Guilds sub-group call Fibre Speak and was inspired to try mixing acrylic paint and fabric. I did trapunto work for the pansies with a 1/2" grid behind them and what I call "fantasy feathers" in the border. After blocking of the grid-work and pansies I rolled white acrylic paint onto the feathers. The pansies are painted with water soluble pencil crayons. Lots of fun to do!

DIVERSITY - I made this quilt for my brother, Jeff. The fabric speaks of diversity to me. I love the detail in this fabric. When it is cut into smaller pieces, each square still looks beautiful individually or as part of a group. The configurations remind me of how my brothers sees people: all different, all having something unitue to offer in their own special way. I ended up liking the back as much as the front. The back is also uploaded on my profile. It was machine quilted by Linda Theifolt.

Lemon Meringue and Key Lime Pie - First thing this large I've ever made! Designed by Jessamy Thompson for her Quilt Mystery Yahoo Group.

Sparkling Vases - I can't "just do" anything. The original design is stunning (brights on black). I didn't want to do that, so mine is a "negative" image -- -- more or less.

A Purple Mystery - This was a mystery quilt I made during a quilting retreat. Each snowball block has a different quilting motif inside. I did freehand swirls around the snowball blocks.

Dexter's I Spy - I wanted to make an I Spy quilt, but did not want to make the standard hexagon pattern. So I cut the novelty fabrics (multicolored and monotone) into 2.5 inch squares and sorted them into 6 piles - light medium and dark of the multicolored fabrics, and light medium and dark of the monotone fabrics. Then made the Trip Around the World layout and constructed the quilt using 9 patch construction following the specific layout required to get the shading I wanted. There were 12 different 9 patch constructions. When I finished all the 9 patches I realized that I needed a single row down the vertical center and the horizontal center to make the design sparkle. The most difficult part was adding these vertical and horizontal rows as the quilt was in quarters and heavy so it stretched a little. Fortunately, the machine quilter, Eleanor Johnson was able to bail me out and the quilt came out great!!!

4 Hearts - The heart block was part of the local guild's 2006 block collection. My first block was too big --- aaagggrrrhhh, those quarter-inch seams! My second block fit the specifications for the block collection. So what to do with the block that was too big!?! Make 3 more!

Dragonflies - I joined Pat Sloan's Round Robin Swap (Yahoo) Group. This one is a DIY - Do It Yourself Round Robin. The center is raw-edge applique with a machine blanket stitch.

Skeeter Cat's Heaven on Earth - When we moved to a new home in the Millenium year of 2000 these were the things that made Skeeter's new home feel like Heaven on earth. Hand appliqued, machine quilted. Inspired by a Mary Lou Weidman class in Sisters, OR.

Sparkling Cathedral Stars - I used glitter fabric for the background and fussy cut the inset "stars". I intend to "add" to this wall hanging someday.