Baby Isabelle Jackson's New Quilt

At the end of 2023, a new baby girl was welcomed to the extended family:  Baby Isabelle Jackson, daughter of my niece Rachel and her husband Court.  Happily, this gave me an excuse to create an original crib quilt measuring 49" wide by 53" high.  Some history:  In 2015, I went to India with two friends on a quest to discover fabric artists in the state of Gujarat.  Along the way we discovered the Rann of Kutch's wildlife santuary and stayed briefly at the Rann Riders Resort.  On a mini safari we saw many exotic (to me) birds including Painted Storks, a Snake Eagle, black-headed Ibis, Egrets and Greater Flamingos among others. I drew many of the birds once we got back from our trip, and created the bird fabric printed on the quilt back above.  Unfortunately I had only taken a little Canon Powershot G15 camera, which was not good enough for great bird photos. The beauty of applique is that I could use my photos as reference to create the stork image on the quilt front.  This was done by making an Adobe Illustrator image, which was then used as a template for the final fabric applique design.  Many of the quilt fabrics were purchased from Britex in San Francisco with a mix of soft whites, pastel pinks, cotton satins and more. The basic design was created with Electric Quilt's EQ8 software, then modified by accident, or intent, as the quilt was being built.   The memory of the trip, bird motif, and the quality of the different fabrics made working on the quilt another level of pleasure.

India Polka Dot Batik Quilt

Latest quilt, my largest yet!  Queen size, with DreamWool brand merino wool batting, and hand tied with red cotton embroidery thread (also from India). I fell in love with the polka dot material on a fiber arts tour of India in January, 2015.  Visiting batik artist Shakil Ahmed Q. Khatri, near the area of Mundra-Kutch, in the state of Gujarat, was a surprise treat. He had so many beautiful batiks, I wanted to buy them all.  One pink/red batik fabric, quilted with pink silk/satin, has already gotten away, sold to jeweler/friend Gemma Rose at cost, without my photographing it first.  This polka dot design was unusual. It was hanging outside the artist's house, drying, when I spotted it.  It took awhile to find another batik (the turtle fabric backing) to match sufficiently.  The polka dot fabric was so beautiful on its own, I didn't want to cut it up to much, so merely cut what I had in half, sewed that together and (after months of work) voila.

More info on the artist can be found here:  http://www.kala-raksha-vidhyalaya.org/2009/men/eportfolios_shakil_ahmed_kasambhai_khatri.php

Antique India Quilt With Birds and Roses

New Wall Hanging Quilt front and back.  Centered antique hand sewn satin/cotton quilt from India with four of my hand drawn Indian birds (seen in India in January of this year) printed on cotton (painted stork, flamingo, two ibis).  Cotton, satin, glitter trim, couched rat tail and some hand embroidery. Rose pattern cotton back and rosebud cotton binding (both designed by Martha Negley for Rowan. Westminster Fibers).  Measures 28 1/2" wide x 43 3/4" high.

Indian People in Ahmedabad

From the start of our Textiles and Temples tour around Gujarat, I was amazed how friendly almost all of the Indians were who we met.  It reminded me of when I was first living in Spain, in 1969, when foreigners weren't that common there and the Spanish were very curious and friendly. Like Spain in the late 60’s early 70s, Gujarat today is still slightly off the beaten track for tourism in India.  I and my two travelling companions were constantly running into groups of students, wedding participants, villagers, and other strangers, who wanted their pictures taken with us, or were happy to have us take their picture.  Unlike the American custom of trying to smile for the camera, more often than not the friendly Indians put on more serious faces once the lens was focused on them.  The three photos here were taken at the Adalaj Step-well in Ahmedabad.  The students were clamoring to have pictures taken with all of us and the Rabari elders, with young girl, even smiled for the camera.

Indian Salt

On a Textile and Temples tour of Gujarat, India, in January, 2015, salt ended up playing an interesting role linking the Little Rann of Kutch’s wildlife sanctuary with India’s Independence from Britain.   A short jeep ride from our stay at the excellent Rann Riders Resort, led to a great sea of fabulous birds, including painted storks, black ibis, egrets, geese and flamingos (in the distance).  The magnificent birds were followed by wild ass sightings.  Driving on a bit led to a salt bed where I proceeded to buy about a pound of salt crystals.  What I did not know then, but know now, is that today India is the world’s third largest producer of salt, after China and the USA.  But back in 1930, the British had a monopoly on the salt trade and made it illegal for any Indian to produce salt.  This led to Mahatma Gandhi’s famous 1930 salt march, which eventually led to India’s independence in 1947.