Conversations on Quilts from India

 

 It is my lucky week and I want to share my joy with you all.

 

Quilt from The Henry Drewal Collection

Lately my posts here on the blog  have been far and few in between. But I am happy to be sharing any information I can here about the quilting in India. 

There are two online events coming up within a week or so. I highly recommend that you sign up for both. That is if you are into any kind of hand quilting and hand stitching. 

The first event is about the Kantha Revival in Easter India and Bangladesh. What we know as quilter is kantha stitching but most have very little info on what an actual Kantha quilt is. This is a really good opportunity to view the film and join the conversation.  

Kantha of Bangladesh Tickets- $5-10

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kantha-in-bangladesh-from-hidden-corners-to-public-view-registration-140441196399#

 

Here is another event of Siddi Quilts of India. It is a conversation between Dr. Henry Drewal and Dr. Sarah Khan. 

The quilts from their collection are in an exhibit at Cove St. Arts . It will be worth a drive if you are anywhere near Portland, ME.

February 6 - March 27 2021

This exhibition is co-curated by Henry J. Drewal, Evjue-Bascom Professor of African and African Diaspora Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who first saw kawandi while documenting Siddi expressive culture in 2004 and Sarah K. Khan. All of the quilts in the exhibition are by members of the nonprofit Siddi Womens’ Quilting Cooperative, which is keeping this tradition alive and vibrant

You can also sign up for an event on eventbrite  - click on the link below. You may not want o miss this at all.

Soulful Stitching by Siddi's of Karnataka - Tickets  $0-100

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soulful-stitching-a-scholarly-social-practice-tickets-141232412949?aff=ebdssbeac#

I would love to know what you thought after you attend these events.

 

Have a great week!

Sujata

Stories in Stitches - A New Begining

 

 

I was quite certain to be able to offer workshops in the month of January but it took us few weeks to get our footings back in the home. I have spent last three weeks unpacking, arranging and rearranging our belongings. I am sure it is not the end of it all but excited that we have managed to make some progress towards normalcy of life. 

Here is a little peek at my sewing space. There is a lot to organize. I can not wait to get my hands on my stash!

 

Guess what? All the plant babies survived the apartment from late summer to early winter. 

 

 

For me, normalcy in life also means teaching more workshops and I am happy to offer new workshops for Siddi quilt. Please click on the link below to sign up for the class. Once you have registered, you will have the access to the supply list and instructions for light prep work.  

You will also find the link for the zoom meeting for the day of the workshop. 

 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/139558833227

 

 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/122139882677

 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/139567499147

 

Feel free to send an email if you have nay questions regarding the workshops. 

Happy Stitching!

Sujata

 

Stories in Stitches - A webinar

A Quilt Story - I Really Want to Tell  

I still remember that day very distinctly. I was at my niece' house in Seattle and walking down the stairs. I had just received an email from Gwen informing me that someone name Kris will contact me and if she asked to teach, I should grab that opportunity. 

That very afternoon, I heard from Kris Cornell of Quilted Strait. The email said, Gwen who had been teaching at Quilted Strait was going to retire and she had suggested my name to be filling the spot to teach at that shop. I remember becoming a puddle with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. 

I picked up the phone and called Gwen in an instance. I knew then and know now, I could never fill her spot and do what she did. But I did end up teaching at Quilted Strait for a couple of times. More importantly I got to meet and come to know the nicest person who owns the most beautiful shop in the northwest.  I was scheduled to teach this very week but that did not happen due to the shutdown. So we have teamed up to do the best thing possible. 

 

 

I have prepared a brand new talk about post Cultural Fusion Quilts and the subject is very important to me. It is the essence of my approach to quilting and why most every quilt I make becomes personal.

On Sunday, October 18 I hope you can join me for an hour of presentation followed by Q/A.

Tickets are available on Quilted Strait website.

https://quiltedstrait.com/

Happy Monday to you all!

Sujata

The Show

I had to put the uandu quilt to the side for a short while. A lot is going on right now and there are only so many hours in the day.

I am going to be the featured artist at PVQA annual quilt show this weekend. Past couple of weeks I have been busy sewing hanging sleeves on my quilts that has never been hung before. Those are some very large quilts so you can imagine the time it has taken to make them show ready.

Today I am grouping them as they will hang in the show to make it easier on the the volunteers who are working there.

It is even nice to see them hanging side by side in my house on this bedroom where light is always bright.

I also have some Ralli and Siddi quilts from India made with old saris and other scraps. Most of the quilts I have are two sided quilts as they are when you make do. It was hard to decide on which side to attach the sleeves on. If they were visible from both side, I would have taken a different approach but only one side is going to be seen. I thought I would post here both side of this particular quilt so you can all see the quilt.

I am calling this the front side since the other side ended up with a sleeve.

Wouldn't you agree the sleeve looks really tacky? I am going to remove it as soon as I get it back. This quilt weighs a lot with old clothes being used as "batting". I appreciate the old Indian ways of quilting and curious to use thinner fabric layers as batting in my next few quilts.

Interesting observation of the day is that quilts in the first picture were made many moons ago. I bought this Siddi quilt last year. To see them all side by side in this blog post confirms my thoughts on how our mind works as artist. I can never take India out of my head. Although, it has been 33 years of living in the United States, I drift very easily between minimalism and maximal-ism when it comes to quilting and designing. One thing remains constant is the use of colors and textures of India in my quilts.

Here are the close up pictures of Siddi Quilt.

Organic EVERYTHING!

If you are local, please stop by and say hello. The lecture is at 2:00 PM. Quilts will be hanging in two different buildings.

Here is the link to the show.
https://pvqa.org/2019-pvqa-quilt-show/

Hope to see you there!