Kaffe goes to the Temple

I have a finish!!!

Finished!!!

Yes, I am finishing with a BANG!!!

But let's start at the beginning. The mission was simple - Use up 124 HSTs left over from making Clay's Quilt.

Clay's Quilt in progress

I turned to Pinterest for ideas. There were a few that appealed to me.
Arrange 120 HSTs 10 by 12, sew and call it a flimsy.  Some design is bound to emerge. Right?

Leftover HSTs

I liked the idea of simple. I wanted to get it done.
Bernie and Mari had warned me that if I let them sit too long they would become a UFO.

Meh!

Quick and Simple. Who does not want that?
But it does not have that spice, that lure, that attention-grabbing, passionate tugging at my heartstrings effect.
Have you had that moment when you are so consumed by it that you forget almost everything else.
I was not getting THAT feeling.

Blah!

One Saturday morning, Paul asked me to accompany him to Chick-Fil-A. No, not exactly a date but he had a coupon for a free breakfast sandwich. Oh well.
Me: I want to sit near the window
Paul: It is too bright
Me: There is no such thing.
Paul: Are you a sunflower?
Me: Am I not?
Paul: Hmmm.
Me: You must be a vampire, seeking the darkest corner.
Chick-Fil-A employee - We do not serve blood.
Laughter

I also got something to eat. Did not care for it. Can you believe a breakfast place that does not serve hot tea? I mean it is just hot water. It is less work than coffee. I was feeling trapped and restless while Paul lovingly lingered over his potatoes.

Boredom can be a beautiful thing. My mind drifted back to the 124 HSTs waiting for me at the ironing board while I was trying to eat bland eggs.
Here is some salsa, Paul offered. I glared at him but accepted the salsa.
My thoughts drifted again. This time to a beautiful pink/orange quilt I had seen at allpeoplequilt.com a while ago. Composed of HSTs, what was its name - Ships something.

Found it.

What if?
I have a lot of little HSTs. So if I made a few larger ones (one large for every five small ones), I could make this block.

And then what?
Let's sketch.

Sketch

And then that feeling came - like a thief that is so close to the treasure that his fingers begin to tingle.
Now, I had to drop everything and make it.

Large HSTs, using Kaffe Fassett Solids

The first blocks

The first quadrant

Coming together!!!

I still had leftover HSTs. A border of HSTs? Maybe. But they have to fit right.  This required an internal border.

Gold Border and 4-patch blocks

And cornerstones, and tiny 4-patch blocks in the middle of the borders to make sure that everything falls in the right place.

Cornerstones

Almost There

The flimsy was complete. Well, almost. I added a skinny background border to make sure that the binding did not eat up the points of the HSTs.

Starting from that one block (1 large+5 small HSTs), the rest of the quilt came together, almost effortlessly, in a round robin fashion.  It is as if the quilt just made itself.

I chose a this green print for backing. And the binding contrasts beautifully.

Backing and Binding

Here it is!!! My 20th finish of 2017.

Hello Beautiful!

Can you see the sliver of background  between the binding and the points of the HSTs? 

I am in love!!!

A little dusting of snow made for a perfect backdrop.  But I had to take a break in the middle of the photo-shoot. I came inside to regain sensation in my fingers before venturing out a second time.

Ooh love the binding!!!

This quilt reminds me of the bright tents (shamiyana) at a traditional Indian wedding.
The colors are so much like my traditional jewelry set - green, gold and red.  These colors are also reminiscent of India's Temple Silk sarees.

Temple Silk and Jewelry

Going to the Pooja

The pattern is like a Rangoli, made at Diwali to welcome the Goddess Lakshmi.

Rangoli

The flying geese units are circling around the larger HST clusters.

Parikrama

Distilling all these thoughts and ideas, I have chosen to call it Parikrama.  Parikrama is the path that devotees follow, going around the temple to mark the end of the worship.

Labelled

Binding & Backing - Perfect Together

Parikrama finished at 46" square.

Scrappy and Spicy

Gold is Bold

It seems fitting that I end the year with this quilt, just as a devotee would end the worship with the parikrama of the temple.  As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties, listed on the sidebar. Also linking with Sandra's Dreami.

Hope you stay warm and I wish you all a very happy new year.  

A Queen's Necklace

I had not seen my mother in three and a half years.  When I saw her, she was lying in a hospital bed and was almost unrecognizable.  She had lost a lot of weight and looked pale.

The Queen's Necklace

How could I be angry at her, when she looked so weak, so tired and so defeated?
I cried. We hugged.

Intersecting Circles

After the surgery, when she came home, I showed her the quilt.  Her face beamed with happiness.
And then she realized the amount of work that went into it, since she is herself a sewist.

Quilting

"Why did you put so much effort into it?"
"So that, when you look at it, you can forget your pain and feel better"
"It is very beautiful"
"I am calling this one RaaniHaar (Queen's Necklace)"
"Perfect name"

Paisley Backing

Although the surgery was successful and she has started walking a few steps every day, it will take her at least six weeks to regain strength and be fully mobile.  Maybe longer.

Purple Border

I am glad that the quilt will be there to remind her that I love her so very much.
I hope that she gets better soon.

Candy Colored Striped Fabric for Binding

Thank you to all of you, who have shared my journey, shared your stories, provided love and support, and above all sent loving wishes for my mom.  When I let you glimpse into my relationship  with my mom, I had no idea that it would strike such a chord with so many of you.

Eye Candy

I have felt such an amazing connection to all of you who opened your hearts and let me know that I am not alone. That although our stories may be different but our hearts and feelings are the same.

Finished - just in time

Here is the truth that I discovered - even when we are hurt by our loved ones, we cannot wish them anything but happiness. Because we are not connected by that hurt.

Dimpled - after a wash

We are connected by love. And therefore their pain becomes our pain.

Light and Shadow Play

The only way to lessen our pain is to lessen theirs.  I wish my mom heals quickly.
So that I may heal too.

I returned from India last week and brought back some fabric.
"What a shocker," remarked Paul.   But that is a whole new blogpost.
Now that I am back, I will resume my activity in the blogland including visiting, commenting and linking :-)

As usual, I'd LOVE to hear from you.