INDIA QUILT FESTIVAL 2019

Hello,

Yes you heard it right! Finally the First Ever India Quilt Festival is going to be held in Chennai on 25- 27 January 2019!! Make sure to check out the WEBSITE and LIKE THE PAGE on Facebook to get the first update! 

Theme : Dance of The Peacock 

Alright, here is the detail from the website:

Category: 

1.  Traditional Quilts

Quilts made using traditional quilting methods and designs from India or rest of the World. The quilts can be wholecloth, pieced, appliquéd, hand quilted, machine quilted or made using a combination of techniques

2.  Modern Quilts

Modern quilts are more contemporary in design and form. These include the use of bold colors and prints, minimalistic designs, high contrast and graphic areas of solid colour, improvisational piecing, non-traditional fabrics and embellishments. Can be wholecloth, pieced, appliquéd, hand quilted, machine quilted or a combination of techniques.

3.  Art/ Innovative Quilts

An art quilt is an original exploration of a concept or idea rather than the handing down of a ‘pattern’. It experiments with textile manipulation, colour, texture and/or a diversity of mixed media.  An Art Quilt often pushes quilt world boundaries.

4.  Novice Quilts

Quilts made by a beginner with less than 2 years of quilting experience as on January 25th, 2019. This can include all styles and construction methods including the ones covered in the above categories.

5.  Theme Quilts -  “Dance of the Peacock”

Any technique, style and method of construction can be used to create a quilt that showcases your personal interpretation of the theme. It could be a literal interpretation or it could be abstract or even impressionistic. It could be the colours or the joie-de-vivre of the magnificent creature. Let the theme speak to you and let your thoughts manifest into a quilt.

BROAD GUIDELINES FOR THE QUILT SHOW :

1.    The quilt must be completed in the 2 years leading up to the festival – which means it must be made after January 2017.

2.    Finished size for categories 1 to 4 [mentioned above]

o    The maximum FINISHED size – no more than 9 ft [ 108 inches] on any side

o    The minimum FINISHED size – no less than 2 ft [24 inches] on any side

3.    Theme quilt – The quilt has to necessarily conform to ANY of the following FINISHED sizes ONLY: 

o    4ft x 4ft

o    3ft x 3ft

o    4ft x 3ft or 3ft x 4ft

o    2ft x 4ft or 4ft x 2ft

4.    You can enter up to two quilts per category.

Quilts not meeting competition criteria can be entered for Exhibition alone.

Quilt Submission Date : 1 September - 31st Dec 2018 

Why the wait? Go and get busy !! Sew those stash you've been collecting through the years. It's time to show the world of your craft!

and if you need more quilting fabrics, you can always go HERE and HERE.

Happy Quilting!

Sunday Stash 09 - Kalamkari Fabrics

Hello,

Kalamkari is an Indian heritage which in ancient days was made by drawing folktales (using pen =kalam) into a piece fabric. However in modern days, kalamkari mostly done by hand printing using pre-made wooden blocks. Thus, imperfections of colors and prints from the hand printing process are an added charms of all Indian block printed fabrics. 

Indian Dancers - Kalamkari Fabric

In the ancient times, kalamkari mostly depicted the episodes of Indian mythology, as  similar to the stained glasses of the Christian cathedrals. (source)

Indian Floral Kalamkari Print

In Modern times, many kalamkari designs are digitalized to create digital print kalamkari which is widely popular. However traditional method of block print using wooden block is still widely used. 

Buddha Print Kalamkari Mudcloth

Kalamkari specifically depicts epics such as the Ramayana or Mahabharata. However, in recent time, you will find kalamkari depicting Buddhist Art forms too, musical instruments, florals, animals and others. 

Elephant Peacock Kalamkari Mud cloth

Check out a couple of things you can make from this unique traditional Indian Fabrics. 

Travel Pouch 

Quilted Tote by Kaarukriti

Yellow Travel Pouch 

Indian Elephant Pouch by Bhavana Designs at Etsy

Hippie Tote Bag by Bhavana Designs at Etsy

Aren't they gorgeous? 

The Kalamkari Fabrics are available at :

Chezvies Fabrics at Etsy

Chezvies Webshop

Handmade Bags, Totes and Pouches  available at :

Bhavana Designs

Kaarukriti .. Creations Dil Se

Chezvies

Have a beautiful Sunday,

Scrappy Log Cabin - WIP

Hello,

Last night I was catching up on Bonnie Hunter's Quilt Cam on Youtube. It's my fave "pick me up" channel. You know when you feel so low and uninspired. Today was one of those day. 

As I started watching, I took out my scrap bags which I sorted in colors. I picked up yellow bag and black & white one. 

I was thinking of doing the 100 days scrap vortex that is going on in Instagram based on Amanda's QAL in 2015.  I took out a couple of scraps, iron them and decided to do  log cabin block. Color and Black & White. I was not in the mood for random block.

I started with 2" centre piece and 1.25" strip. Since I was too lazy to cut the strips, I just went along and trimmed the strip to 1" after I sewed them together. That way I can work faster. 

Most of the scraps were from my bags and wallets project. And some from dresses and quilts I did a few years ago. Sometimes, I felt bad that I keep so many small scraps but I just could not throw them away. After I watched one of Bonnie's quilt cam episode where she said, one of the scrap she was sewing (that day) was from 28 years ago, I know I did the right thing!! That video made my day! LOL.

Anyway,  I love how the blocks turned out and thought of doing a couple more blocks using different colors, like red, blue, green, orange, etc. That would be fun, right? I think I'm going to go ahead and do 100 days of logcabin. What say?

How do I store my scrap? I use buckets that I got free from buying detergents. Yes they give buckets here in India :D. We get at least 3 buckets per month. So they come handy for me. Last week made covers for those buckets, based on bowl cover tutorials I found on YouTube. 

To make the pattern, all you need is the diameter of your bucket add roughly 3" and make a circle template based on that measurement. I followed THIS TUTORIAL . It's super duper easy! I keep my WIP projects in a clear resealable plastic bags and keep them in those buckets. Now I need to put label on them. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Until then,

Happy Sewing

Tuesday Thoughts : Blog or Social Networking Sites

Hello,

Whatever you are, be a good one ~ Abrahan Lincoln

When I wrote my Sunday Stash post, I realized that there are many projects which I have not documented here in the blog. Between 2016 and 2017, I too got swept away in the SNS wave. 

While I was writing and wanting to link up to my old blog post, I just could not find it. As much as I love Facebook and Instagram for the instant sharing, I realized that blog has so much more. More stories and memories. Besides, blog is more organized. You can look back and see how far you've reached in your crafting journey. 

Like the above Everyday Tote I tested for my friend Namrata of Bagstock. 

I even made a matching NCW clutch. I used burlap fabrics for the exterior and a contrast checkered black and white on the inside.

NCW using Burlap Fabric

There was interesting story behind those two. The set was sold to one of my Etsy customers. It was a repeat order. The package went all the way to the USA and came back, because she was traveling when the package arrived. We arranged another shipment, and again it came back because she missed the delivery. Naturally, I refunded the money, minus the shipping charge.  I was more amused than upset. Well, it was not meant to be! 

Batik and Denim ~ perfect combo

I made Batik EDT and NCW set for my Indonesian friend in Mumbai. She sent me the Indonesian batik fabric. I used blue denim as a combination and it turned out perfect!! She and her daughter loved it!

Batik EDT Handbag

This second batik EDT I made for a friend in Indonesia last year. She sent me Batik Madura from her shop collections and since it was a narrow fabric, I made EDT at 85% which is a perfect size for a handbag. I added leather strap and handles. 

Thanks Ony for tagging me <3

She wanted a wallet to go with the tote bag, so I made this Trifold Wallet.

Batik Trifold Wallet

This is the only picture that I can find in my google photos album. Pheew...

I really love her Batik Madura collections and picked up a few from her shop. You can follow her Instagram account to see her latest collections. 

What about you? Which one do you prefer? Blog or Social Networking Sites like Facebook and Instagram? 

For me, blog is always my fave, even though I got distracted for quite sometimes. If you are an online seller, you might consider  to start writing a blog. According to the SEO experts, blog always get preference to be indexed by google and always turn up in search if you use the correct keywords. Even 5 or 10 years later. Blog traffics are more organic, which is again an advantage since many SN sites started to shut down bots. While Social Network Sites, they like anything instant, it goes out of search radar pretty quickly. 

That's all for today's thoughts. 

Have a lovely day!

Travel Wallets and a sling bag

Hello,

“If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working on it.”

— Michael Jordan

March was a pretty busy month for me, sewing wise. Not that I sew so much, but I started digging on my quilting UFO and decided to pick up where I left off. Let's see where this decision will take me next. 

Passport Holder Travel Wallet

In between digging up my UFO bins, I finished this Paris Travel Wallet order from my Etsy Shop. I love working with Japanese Linen. This travel wallet is another pattern of mine, which I have not time to finish writing the instructions. But I will, hopefully soon ;) 

It has plenty of pockets for passports, cards, ID card, Zipper Pocket and slip pocket. I love my wallets with binding since it gives the handmade look and we can always improvise with the binding colors/fabrics. Plus, the wallet will last longer, even if it's over loaded. 

Yellow Travel Wallet

Another finish is this Yellow Travel Wallet for a local order from a friend. I still need to one more for her, which will be done this week. You can get the pattern HERE.

The hardest part is to choose the matching color and how to make it one of a kind. 

One thing I still struggling till now is installing metal snap :( . I have all the tools that are needed to install the snap and even watching tutorial on YouTube but I always end up wasting more than half dozen of snaps. But I won't give up ^_^. 

If you follow me in Instagram, you must have seen this Indigo blue sling bag. I made that for hubby's aunt who visited us last week. I made a sling bag for her last year to take when she goes for her morning walk, now her friend wanted one. 

I made a simple one with zipper top and a front pocket which closes with magnetic snap button. I love this Indian print fabric, it is one of my fave print.  It was a fun quick project. I hope the lady who ordered it will love it. 

So that was a bit of late post from last week. I'm looking forward to finish up a couple of projects from my UFO bins this month! What about you?

Thank you for stopping by,

Happy Sewing

Linky Party:

Handmade Monday
Finish it Up Friday
Show Off Saturday.