Bloggers Quilt Festival!!!

Hiya all! Its time for the Bloggers Quilt Festival organized every year by Amy!!!

And this year, I'm entering it again!!!

I am going to enter one of the most favorite quilts that I made this year. Apsara aali...

The quest for the photo started about 2-3 months before I actually stared making this quilt. I have always been intrigued by the many different ways in which a saree is draped in India. The length of the saree also varies regionally.

In Maharashtra - the state in India that I live in - the 9 yard saree - called nav vari (nau = nine, var = yard) is the traditional gear for women. It has its own variants too! It looks especially beautiful from behind!

I wanted to capture the grace of that saree, without making it look like I was trying to make a quilt of a woman's bottom!

I might be a good quilter, but an artist - I'm not! But I know my limitations and instead of taking the chance I began my quest for a perfect photo that I could use as a guide for my quilt. A friend suggested Madhuri Dixit's pose from the poster of Gaja Gamini - a film made by the famous painter M F Hussain.

The pose was from one of my most favorite songs in the movie, music by Bhupen Hazarika. You can watch the song here... 

It was exactly what I was looking for!

I used the poster as a guideline and divided the picture and tackled it one part at a time!

It made things really easy...

And about 4 months after the initial idea started brewing, here is the quilt - ready in all its glory!

I love the fact that the saree looks like it is draped and not stitched down!!!
 

Here, you can see the details of the saree... 

 Here you can see how instead of sewing down the folds of the saree, I let them stand out to give it a 3D effect...

I was totally skeptical about doing the ties of her blouse, having never done something like that before. But it turned out alright!

I could not find the exact color for the central panel in the local market. Then I thought, why not dye it myself! So I did. I hand dyed white fabric to make the central panel... And then added a border of the darkest shade outside the black frame!

 

 

I made the bundle on top 3D too! And I actually stuffed it with batting scraps to make it fluffy!

The back was also given a lot of thought...

I wanted to make a window and then have a silhouette of  her as if seen through a frosted glass...

Does it look like that? I tried to match the front applique to the silhouette on the back as fat as possible, there is a difference of about 3/8" at some points! But I'm happy with it!

I am planning to enter this one in multiple quilt shows...  And I start with Amy's!

I even put a proper sleeve on the back, and did not forget my trademark ribbons and my elephant charm!

Quilt Stats :
Name : Apsara aali...
 Size : HUGE : 40" x 80"
2. Material : Fabric - from stash - ALL OF IT!Including the Saree and the blouse fabric! A lot of cotton poplin, some linen and curtain lining remnants!
I used a LOT of Pellon Fusible (#805). I also used a lot of local interfacing - mainly to sew the entire figure on, before sewing it onto the final quilt!
Thread - Aurifil Invisible (90% of the work) and Aurifil 50 wt Black & White as per the situation. I used a little of Superior & a little of Madeira Mono-filament thread as well.

Experience : In one word - Surreal!


Do you like her? I am very proud of her!!!

 

If you do like her, please vote for me when the voting starts on November 11th! You can find my quilt in the Wall hanging category here. Go vote!!!

 

Now I'm off to see other quilts entered in the show so far!!!

 

Cheers!!!