Monday, February 8, 2010

The Kite Festival

You never know what inspires a quilter at any given moment to start a quilt. Last week I was going through my scraps, hoping to reduce the load in a day! I thought of making a string quilt and add it to my collection. As I was going through all the strings, some pieces of solid, colorful fabrics caught my eyes. In that very moment, I went back to my childhood dreaming of  'The Kite Festival"

On 14th of January each year the skies in India get filled with kites. Children, adults, men and women all gather on the terraces of their homes and fly kites. From early hours of morning till the sun sets in the Arabian ocean you could hear the loud cheers and screams of happiness!

Those paper kites are made from bright colorful tissue paper as light as feathers. The string on the other hand, so strong it could easily cut into hands! They are coated with powdered glass mixed with glue. The trick is to fly the kites and cut other kites that are in the skies. 

As a child, I loved watching those kites sore into the blue sky. It was a special treat to watch the kids on the streets run after the cut kites and claim the ownership of those they found. If the kites were still in good condition, those kids would find a way send them up again. As fragile as they seemed those kites left lasting memories. I looked at those strips of solid fabrics and decided to make some kites instead.

 
I decided to hand quilt while I strolled down the memory lane.

 
 Could not stop at just one!

 
This is how it all began!

8 comments:

  1. Great use of scraps and color. Love the kite story too.

    Your handquilting is amazing.

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  2. I can't think of a better use for those fabrics! The kite quilt and blocks are absolutely gorgeous..and the fond memories they gave you is a special bonus? The piecing has a timeless, casual look/appeal and...I love the quilting you did too! :)

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  3. Well done, Sujata! Love the pieced binding!

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  4. Love them Sujata. Now I'm inspired for my Gwen Marston workshop in solids next month, in Sisters. It's only the 3rd time for this workshop and I should be "getting it" by now.

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  5. you have an amazing eye. i just completed a gee's bend quilt. i started with a kit but halfway through i wished i had gone to goodwill. their fabrics work really well but it felt like cheating. all of your work is amazing.

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  6. Thank you, Leslie. The best thing about working with old cloths is that they provide a true challenge in making a quilt. The results are almost always surprisingly striking and true to the nature of the quilts! Warm and comforting, no matter which pattern you work with. In my workshops I had students bring their family member's clothing and they brought anything from boxers to skirts and bedsheets!

    Hopefully, I will pull some of those quilts out and post them soon! I would love to see your quilt!

    - Sujata

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  7. Beautiful choice of colors--your specialty! I love the sky blue and the scrappy binding. The hand quilting really adds character. I hope you'll keep going with the smaller blocks. Bravo!

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  8. Love your inspiration! These are so beautiful and colorful... I can picture them flying up in the sky!

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