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.
