Esmeralda

Have you met the princess, Esmeralda?

Here she is.

Esmeralda!!!

I am in love with her.

Esmeralda...aah

Shines & Shimmers

Me: Look, look, these point meet so perfectly.
Paul: Uh Huh.

Me: Love when that happens.
Paul: These points seem a teensy bit off

Me: Who told you to look at that one? In any case, that is a reject.
Paul: Hmmm. So not all points are perfect.

Stacked

Cut

Shuffle

Me: They are better than before.
Paul: Before? You have made this before?
Me: Yes, it is the same design as Mom' Quilt that I made last year.
Paul: Oh the pink/orange one.
Me: Yes

Match

Pinned

Pure Joy of meeting points

Paul: You had a very royal name for it.
Me: Raanihaar, meaning The Queen's Necklace

Staying Organized

Paul: What is this one called?
Me: Esmeralda.
Paul: That is a mouthful
Me: This quilt has been a handful and then some

Square to 8.5"

Cutting Corners :-D

The magic happens here

Squared again

Paul: Handful? How?
Me: It is queen-size, and has a thousand pieces.
Paul: Wow, that is a lot. But still fit for a queen?
Me: Yes, but the colors are softer - not a queen, may be a princess.
Paul: A Princesses' Necklace?
Me: Yes, but that does not have the sound effect. I chose to call this one Esmeralda.

100Blocks!!!

Paul: How did you come up with that name?
Me: I was just thinking of impressive sounding royal names - Desdemona, Esmeralda, Ophelia, Arabella - that are not too common. I like Esmeralda the best. Further, the quilt has shades of emerald green, so Esmeralda.

Design Wall - What would I do without you?

Press Seams Open

Paul: May be you should have spent more effort on matching the points than naming the quilt.
Me: You are banished from Esmeralda's court.
Paul: Is that so?
Me: Till the time you are summoned to fulfill your duties as the quilt holder-upper.

Finished Flimsy!

The fabrics are from Moda's new fabric line - Wild Nectar by Crystal Manning.

I wanted fabrics with a good contrast against the white background. Otherwise it would have been difficult to see the intersecting circles. Therefore, I did not use the two prints with beige background.

Turquoise Border

(But they are already in the next project. Details coming later. Watch this space.)

As much as I love the peach, emerald and gold together, I am convinced that it is the Bella Turquoise border that brings the whole quilt together.  What do you think?

Moda Grunge Pool

The backing is 108" wide Moda Grunge Pool. It is absolutely lovely.

Turquoise, Pool and Admiral Blue - One Happy Family

The quilting is super-simple.
Quilted two inches apart, using my walking foot and one of the decorative stitches on my Janome.

Trimmed & Labelled

Binding in process

The binding is Bella Admiral Blue and I believe it works beautifully.

A pop of binding

I was a bit concerned, that some of the light peach fabrics may not stand out enough from the background, but my fears were unfounded.

So gorgeous!!!

Everyone (I mean everyone) has loved this quilt - quilters and muggles alike. So obviously, I have been showing it off :-)

The illusion circles

The 99 blocks are arranged 9 by 11. The border is about 3.5" .
The finished quilt measures about 80" by 96".

Esmeralda on the Green

Feeling Shy?

With sunlight filtering through...

Although I took over 200 pictures by myself, I wanted just one picture showing the whole quilt - top to bottom - and that proved to be challenging. Even with Paul's help, on a nearby playground with a dozen clothes pegs, Esmeralda struggled to break free. Here are some pictures from our breezy attempt.

Thank you, Paul!!!

Aah the Breeze

Almost still

Taking it down

And Rekha, my buddy at work, is a fabulous quilt model. Look how she owns it.

Thank you Rekha

Beauty

Getting close

Paul: So who gets to snuggle with Esmeralda?
Me: Whoever is worthy.  We shall see.

Now that I have completed this humongous beauty of a quilt, admired here, shown her off and taken 300 pictures, there is nothing more left to do.

Just kidding :-D

I am going to play with the scraps. What I do with them is the stuff of my October OMG. 

Here is a glimpse.

October OMG

I will be linking with all my favorite linky parties. I do look forward to your thoughts.

If you love Esmeralda, and want to make the quilt or a few blocks, please go to the Moda Bake Shop for the complete tutorial, fabric requirements and lots of process pictures.

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.