Agitagueda

Quilters find inspiration anywhere! I believe this completely. I also believe that they can 'store' inspiration in their brains for accessing at a later date.

I think it was a couple of years back when I first saw the photos of the Agitagueda - a monsoon festival in Portugal where they cover the street with colourful umbrellas.

Photo credit : Avax News

It stayed in my mind for years! When on my recent trip to Bangalore, my friend Bilqis gifted me a bunch of her hand dyed fabrics, my mind kept on going back to this picture (not exactly this picture, but a similar one that I had seen some years back)

Thats when the design for this quilt started taking shape in my mind.

Here is my completed Agitagueda

This quilt took the longest to Free Motion Quilt! It took me 2 hours to complete the quilt top, but 2 weeks to finish the FMQ.

I love the small details of the quilt.

Quilt stats :

Name : Agitagueda

Size : 25" x 19"

Material Used :

Fabric : Bella Solid Black for background, Assorted Hand dyes for applique and backing
Thread : Aurifil 28 wt in assorted colours for quilting. Aurifil 50 wt in the bobbin
Others : Pellon 805 (Wonder Under) for applique, Cotton Batting (high loft)

Appliqued and Quilted on my Bernina 710 using the BSR.

Technique used : Raw Edge Applique

Experience : Meditative, since I was doing the same design basically over and over! It took a lot of patience!

I normally use the same weight thread both on the top and in the bobbin, but for this quilt I used 28 wt Aurifil in the top and 50 wt in the bobbin. I had absolutely no issues with the quilting. I just reduced my tension when I was working so that the bottom thread did not show on the top.

I used Pellon 805 for fusing and a basting spray for basting. That has made the quilt all 'gummy' and i had to change needles multiple times during this project. I first used the Bernina Quilting Needle, but that kept on breaking. I then switched to the Bernina Stretch Needle and completed last 3/4th of the project without any issues. I just remembered to clean the machine every time I changed the thread colour, so that it wont 'gum up'

My heart's delight : portrait of Aadi

It is every quilting mother's dream. To be able to make a portrait of her child. I did that this past week.

Remember Sandra Bruce's self portrait? I had interviewed her some time back. You can go here to read that interview. It was about 3 years back! Ever since I have wanted to make a portrait using her technique.

I visited her during my USA trip. And she wrote a wonderful post about it on her blog! (We do have a mutual admiration club!)

So back to the portrait...

I had this photo of Aadi, that has always been my favorite one. It was clicked by one of the members of the Amateur Photographer's Club in Sangli sometime back in 2008! Aadi was barely 11 months old then. We had gone for a stroll in a garden early in the morning. The club members were there and asked me permission to click photos of Aadi. I told them they could as long as they give me a copy of every photo they take and the permission to use them the way i want to. The did. and a few days later I had a CD with some of the most awesome snaps of Aadi delivered to my home. I still do not know the name of the person who actually clicked this photo. But I am very much indebted to him.

I knew this picture would make a great portrait. Until now I have only made portraits in gray scale. This one screamed at me to be made in color. What was holding me back, you ask? I was scared I would not be able to do it. But I decided to just go and do it! 

So I gathered all my supplies. In the end, I decided to crop out the background and use white instead. That made it easier on me. I did it one square at a time. I looked for prints that matched the position onthe photo. If I did not have prints like that, I improv-pieced the squares. Some I decided to applique because they were too complicated to be pieced. 

 I was on the edge of my seat, more  sure than not, that I am not going to be able to do this! Till this moment.

I got the eye right!!! That was the moment I knew I was going to be able to make it.

And then I got the other eye right too!!! That one was difficult since it had to match the first one. Between those two eyes I think I have 6 pairs of attempts before I got them right!

And at the end of 4 days all the squares were ready!!! Time to do the unthinkable. Piece them together! I managed to do that in another couple of days. The quilting took 2 days...

And at the end of the week : my quilt was ready!!!

Here it is, "My heart's delight : portrait of Aadi"

I decided to keep the quilting simple. And most often matched the thread with the background. I wanted the piecing to be the "hero" of this quilt rather than the quilting.

Here's a more detailed shot of the quilting.

I quilted his three favorite nursery rhymes (when he was 11 months old) in the background. I have no score of how many times I must have sung them to him! So you see  "Wheels on the bus", "Incy wincy spider" and "You're my sunshine" on the white background. I also wanted to include some Marathi songs, but there was no more space left.

I used a 'curly' design to quilt the hair. It turned out awesome!!!

I let Aadi pick the backing for this quilt, and he chose this one! Nummers from Ikea. Its perfect for this quilt!

Quilt stats

Name : "My heart's delight : portrait of Aadi"
Size : 40" x 40" - 200 squares 2.5" (10 appliqued, 76 pieced others whole)
Material used :
Fabric : Hand dyed fabric (for the skin), assorted Black and white prints (for the hair), Some local scraps (for the dress), Bella Solid White and Snow (background)
Thread : Aurifil 50 wt in Tan for piecing and applique. Assorted shades - black, pink, white, grey, blue and red for quilting. Aurifil 40 wt White in bobbin.(only because I was running out of 50 wt in white)

Pieced and quilted on my Bernina 710 using the Dual Feed System and BSR.

Aurifil & Bernina managed to go through several layers (at one intersection it must be close to 7) without ANY incident of thread breakage! Go "Berifil"!!!

Other material : My laptop, freezer paper and my brain (lot of it)

Experience : Amazing!!!

Thank you Sandra, for inspiring me to make this quilt and for sharing your process with me. Though I ended up doing it my own way - it was fun to see how I started out at the same point as you, with the same concept and reached the same destination, travelling down my own road!!! Your support has been phenomenal. This quilt is going to change my life! I know it! And thank you for being such a lovely friend!!!

Do you like "My heart's delight?"

I'm entering it into the Bloggers Quilt Festival  on Amy's Creative Side.

You can find my quilt in the Art Quilt category. Please vote for it if you like it!

Cheers!!!

The best moment of my life!!!

Yes, that's what has kept me busy all these days!!!

I had my first solo exhibition, here in Sangli; and it was a hit!!!

The idea began forming three years back. It was my mentor in architecture - Architect Pramod Chaugule - who suggested I should have my own exhibition! I was totally terrified of the idea! In fact, I just stopped meeting up with him.

Then last year they celebrated his father's 81st birthday. He wanted me to make a portrait of his father, but the fact that he wanted it in a big size was scaring me.

In June this year, I promised him I would make that portrait of his father. We decided to finish it by August 8th. He also offered to sponsor my first solo exhibition!

I was happy, excited, terrified, scared, ecstatic and frightened - all at the same time!

But I also felt confident about it. I got to work. We decided to make 88 quilts for the exhibition on 8/8.

I started working on the quilts in June. By the end of July I was at a comfortable place. The big quilt was ready and 85/88 quilts were almost ready. I actually managed to finish off 96 quilts! We then choose 88 to be displayed in the gallery.

On the days of the exhibition my awesome friends came down to help me with it. Kausalya, Charu and Simi were the ones who, along with my intern Preeti and my cousin Purva helped me pack everything and put it up in the gallery! Aren't quilting friends the best? They absolutely do not mind flying across the country to help another quilting friend!!!

The gallery was in the local mall. A place with a high footfall on the weekends because of the fact that it also has a multiplex. We worked late into night preparing for the opening the next day!

It was awesome to see it all come together...

The exhibition hall looked fabulous!!!

I had one wall of my Gelli Printed quilts, framed.

The other wall was taken up by the Naturescapes series (which was all SOLD OUT at the end of the second day!!!)

Then came the large-ish quilts.

Followed by small quilts and my favorite portraits...

At the far end, curtained off was the 88" x 85" portrait of Pramod Sir's father. No-one knew about it except me, my quilting friends, Pramod Sir himself and his two children. It was supposed to be a surprise for his entire family. His father was turning 82 that day!

The Hon. District Collector, Mr Shekhar Gaikwad was the chief guest. The whos who of Sangli was present for the opening!

Thats me and the Collector's family on the left and Preeti with Pramod Sir and his parents on the right. And yeah thats the HUGE quilt I made!!! It deserves a separate post of its own.

And this is Pramod Sir's father. I'm glad that I could capture the serene and content expressions on his face in the quilt!

But the grand opening, as awesome as it was, could not beat what happened next!!!

Okay, a little background here. When I was in my 6th grade, a wonderful lady was posted as the Superintendent of Police - Meera Borwankar. I was a teen who was super impressed by her. She was my first idol!!!

Okay fast forward 25 years to today (okay not today, but the day of my exhibition). As soon as the Collector left and we took a breath of relief, Pramod Sir got a call from him. He met Ms Borwankar at a function and wanted to bring her to see the exhibition. Currently she is the ADGP (Additional Director General of Police) Prisons!!! I think I forgot how to breathe for a while!

She is the lady who had inspired me to fearless! She is the one who had shown me that a girl can do anything not just as good as, but sometimes, better than a man!

It was the most memorable moment of my life! Meeting Ms Borwankar in person.

She not just kooled at the quilts, but asked me questions too. She looked like she was really enjoying it! How was I feeling? Honestly, I was totally star struck! It was like meeting Amitabh Bachchan - or what I think meeting him will feel like!

She was also wonderful to my Son - Aadi. He was acting very coy, but she coaxed him to answer her questions and he was all red!!! I had just told him about her a few days back, when Yakub Menon was executed. He wanted to know why they were killing him. So we told him about the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Yakub's role in it. Ms Borwankar was the one who was overlooking the execution. 

Nothing had prepared me for this moment! I had goose bumps, my heart was in my throat. I had butterflies in my stomach. I was dancing in my head. I was at the top of the world!!!

At that moment, I did not care if I sold any quilts! It just did not matter!

Thats three generations of Dandekar Daughter-in-laws! Me, my Mother-in-law and her Mother-in-law! 

And thats me and Rohit at the end of the 2 days!!! Exhausted and happy!!!

It is because of the unfailing support of Rohit and his parents that I could go ahead with this exhibition!!! So happy to have them in my life!!!

I am glad that I did this exhibition. One, I sold a lot of stuff, of course! But more important - people in Sangli came to know what I do. I always felt that what I did was not appreciated, or even understood, by my local peeps. I know I have not reached every person in Sangli yet, but yes, now a lot of them know that I do something much more than 'just regular sewing'.

What next??? No idea! But I would like to exhibit in other cities too. Maybe Mumbai or Pune! Who knows!!!

The 3 R's

This quilt was made for a challenge in the "Art Quilts Around the World" group that I am a part of! For the other quilts from the group, please visit our blog.

We have a challenge every two months based on a theme. This time it was the 3R's - Reduce, Recycle, Reuse.
Here's my blog post for the same!!!

When the challenge was announced, I just loved it!!!

I began quilting with 'up'cycling! That is how it all started for me...

For this challenge, I was planning on making a selvedge background and then thread sketching on top of it!!!

Awesome plan wasn't it?

But I forgot something: how lazy I am!

So the selvedges were sewn together, because that was the easier part, and they sat on my table for about a month!!!

I had a lot of time! - I would tell myself.

Fast forward to 30th July! I am in panic mode! My quilt is not ready! And there's no way I am going to be able to do the thread painting in one day!

So I just decided to be late, again. I proceeded to clean my sewing room. That was when I found the markers I had bought from Bernina India. Thats the ones they use with their paintworks tool!

I knew exactly what I wanted to make!!! I then let my heart do the design and the hand do the drawings!!!

So here's my quilt! Finished in time!!!

I love the quirkiness and the 'fun'ness of the quilt! And I already see myself making many more!!!

I had made a quilt with strips of solids a while back. I had a lot of those leftover strips, between 2-6" wide. I cut up a few to make the super scrappy binding of the quilt!!!

Do you like it??

For SALE

Yes, I'm selling some of my quilts!

You all know that I am really excited about going to Austin to attend QuiltCon 2015 in February. To raise the sum I need, I am planning to sell a few of my favorite quilts.

Please get in touch with me for a quote.

Name : Apsara aali... Price on Request
 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.

Name : Dementored Price : $200 + Shipping
Size : 33" x 23"
Material Used : Fabric - Black & White Bella Solids, Thread : Aurifil White. Poly Batting - hi loft
Technique : Reverse Applique - raw edge
Free motion Quilting

Quilt Name : Unnamed Price $750 + Shipping
Size : 54" x 69"
Techniques : EPP Hexagons, Free Motion Quilting (a lot of it), Hand Quilting and blanket stitch edging.
Material used : Scraps from my Paalvi Quilt - Fresh Flowers by Deb Strain, Black Kona Solid, Beige Linen from stash, Aurifil # 2150, 2250, 5018, 1200, 4655, 2135, of course black - 2692 and a lot more that I do not remember!

 Name of the Quilt : Pensieve : Price on request
Size : 36" x 36"
Fabric Used : Kona Snow
Thread : Calypso Off White - #0000261
Technique Used : Trapunto

 Name : More Peace : Price : $250 + Shipping
Size : 28" x 20". 
Materials used : Cotton Fabric, Poly-Cotton Batting (very thin & light), 
Aurifil Black thread 40 wt, Oil Pastels and Glitter Gel Pens!!!

 Please contact me on email if you wish to buy any of these.

 I know its going to be traumatic to part with them. But I think I am ready to sell these!

Cheers!!!

The Transparent Window

 I am a member of a group "Art Quilts Around the World". Every 2 months we have a challenge and we make A3 sized quilts for the same.

This time the challenge was Art Nouveau

I loved this challenge the moment it was announced!!! 

It took me back to 1999 when I was in the Third year of my Bachelor of Architecture course and studied it in History of Architecture! It was my favorite subject - because I always scored well in it, or maybe I scored well because I loved it! No idea!

But this challenge took me back to my Sir Banister Fletcher  textbook - the big fat book of History of Architecture - that I loved so much that I stopped borrowing it from the college library and went and bought my own copy! I remember it was about 1400 rupees (About  32 USD at the time) My allowance was about 2500 rupees a month, so it was a huge investment!

But I loved it! It felt like a storybook! Filled with the most awesome images!!! 

I remember the feature that most interested me in the Art Nouveau period was the lovely stained glass windows! I imagined light filtering through them, taking the color of the glass and creating a story of its own!!! It all came back to me in a moment!!!

And so I decided the bring that quality to my quilt!!! 

Here's my Art Nouveau Quilt!

The Transparent Window!!!

I used my thread scraps to make the 'glass' in the center!!! 

And you know whats the best part???

Yes!!! It is TRANSPARENT!!! I layered the thread nests between two layers of Tulle and quilted it!!! I used a foundation paper which I removed after the 'quilt' was done!!! 

I am so happy that my experiment worked the way I wanted it to!!! 

Do you like this???

Do hop onto the blog to see the other wonderful entries out there!!!