Rough & Tumble

In summer I was working on a scrap vortex quilt.  

Scrappy Goodness

Green chair fabric came from Mell

Wonkiness Galore

Finished Flimsy

Pieced Backing

Turquoise Binding

Here is the finished quilt. I named it - "Rough & Tumble"

Bright & Happy

Does it have a story?

Hmmm... it has poem :-)

I dived into my pile of scraps - old and new

long strips, odd shapes and pieces askew

There were some cute scraps from Mell

I chased after them as they tried to escape and fell 

Some fabrics scream and others just mumble

But they all fit happily in this Rough & Tumble

Art Imitates Nature 

Rough & Tumble finished at 43" by 45".  After the photoshoot, the quilt was put away.
Who will get it? Where will it go? I did not know.
Other quilts (Socorro Foundation Quilts) and other blogposts (Kinda Brave) took priority.

Colorful

Pieced Backing

Time passed.

Welcome Display at the Delhi Airport

Last month I traveled to India to celebrate Diwali (the festival of lights) with my mom and brother.
One day we visited my cousin sister, who lives about an hour away. Her daughter-in-law had recently given birth to an adorable baby boy, named Harsh (meaning happiness). I held him and enjoyed the new baby smell till it was time for us to leave.

My cousin is a grandma and that means I am a grandma too. Yes, the baby will address me by the same title as he does my cousin.

In the car ride back home, I chided (gently) my mom.  Only if she had told me about the new baby, I could have brought a quilt. You know we have an abundance of quilts in my house. May be I should just carry a couple of quilts with me, whenever I travel to India again.

My Henna :-)

Rangoli at a Friend's House

With a Friend = Total Goofiness

Paneer Bhurji (Cooking for Mom)

Once I returned, I sent Rough & Tumble to India on its way to Harsh.
Rough & Tumble makes me very happy and I believe it is perfect gift for a boy whose name means happiness. There is lots of color and interesting things in the quilt which I hope will provide lots of visual stimulation for the baby.

Giraffe & Cat

Ninja Baby!!!

No-Stings Friendly Jellyfish 

And just one last look...

Makes me so Happy

I will be sharing with all of my favorite linky parties (see full list on the sidebar).  But I'd love it if you shared your thoughts.



When Julie mentioned that she was changing her ironing board cover, I asked if I may get the discarded fabric. She agreed to send it to me.
But by the time the package got to me, it had magically acquired an additional 10+ yards of fabric.  Looks like the Christmas season has already begun. Thank you Julie!!!

Pre-Christmas Miracle

This is one of the fabrics in the package I received from Julie.  Oh I cannot cut it up soon enough to include it in the next scrap vortex quilt.

Cute Elephants

There may not be more grand babies in my future but rest assured that there will be plenty of scrap vortex quilts in my future. And if the past is any indication, when I make them (quilts), they (babies) will come!!!

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.