A Celebration Of Model T

As Detroit's Auto show comes to a close, here is another car I built in fabric that marks the events of another decade in the twentieth century, the 1910s. It took almost 3 years for me to complete this quilt. It was hard to work with just black fabrics for the model T, so i used black and whites instead, added lots of embellishments and I love the way it turned out.

Medusa, snakes hair detail

Medusa

Medusa came home after traveling for a couple of years. It was so much fun to create her hair full of snakes!

Passion and Fun

On snowy days during the winter, I love to quilt. It has been my passion and fun for over 28 years. I could spend hours quilting and the time just flies by.In this quilt, the head is a rotary cutter, The limbs are rolled metal tubes.
the heartbeat is rattail cord woven thru a metal grid.
The feet have locks and the key is elsewhere in the quilt.

Originally, I made the background of this quilt for the Tsunami. After it travelled as apart of the Sacred Threads exhibit, I cut it apart and reworked it so it applies to my passion for today.
Last week I thought about entering my Seven Steps Around the Sacred Fire quilt to the Sacred Threads exhbit this year but decided against it for two reasons. It has many fragile embellishments and it is already framed.

My Block for GAAQG worker's quilt

Celebrate Life Daily

detail

Full View

Wedding Quilt: 7 Steps Around the Sacred Fire

All auspicious beginnings include a havan, or a sacred fire which is symbolic of Agni, the Fire God. It is through fire that our prayers are said to reach God. During a Hindu marriage ceremony, the couple exchanges garlands of flowers and take 7 steps, Saptapadi around the fire, and each step represents a vow. My actual wedding chunni(veil) is used as the wedding sari in this quilt.

Wedding Quilt detail

The 7 steps around the fire and thier meaning: Step 1: May the couple be blessed with an abundance of food
Step 2: May the couple be strong and complement one another
Step 3: May the couple be blessed with prosperity
Step 4: May the couple be eternally happy
Step 5: May the couple be blessed with children
Step 6: May the couple live in perfect harmony
Step 7: May they be the best of friends forever

Chile Argentina memories

Travel Chile/ Argentina

Dec 2008 Santiago, Chile . Very warm city..with parks all along the main street in the center of the entire street! Wonderful weather, too! Saw the textiles and pottery at the Museo Chileno De Arte PreColombino. Saw the castle way up the hill called Cerro Santa Lucia and enjoyed a great view of the city. It had lovely gardens on top. We tried an Empanada...like Karangi but with cheese filling. Santiago had a fountain that was a lot like the Bellagio in Vegas. The main street has parks continuously down the center including this fountain..the only thing missing was the music! Enjoyed meeting fellow passengers at the Welcome dinner .

Santiago City tour. Saw some galleries, and the Presidential Palace. Their current president is a woman who passed a law that gives a pension to housewives at age 60!

Trip to Via Del Mar and Valparaiso
Via Del Mar is a resort town with Casino. Palm trees line the river on both sides.
Valpraiso’s houses are very colorful and on top of steep hills. The early settlers built houses high up on the hill and painted the crimped aluminum different colors so they could identify their home from a distance. Went up a Feniculare for lunch and had a fantastic view of the city. A man and his pregnant wife entertained us with his guitar and sense of humor.

We flew 600 miles south to Puerto Montt and went to the town of Puerto Varas..our hotel room overlooks a huge, beautiful lake. Visited a ranch and saw many horses and their show with Gauchos..their cowboys. They teach the horses to walk sideways for shows...it takes them 4 years or more to learn and then a couple of hours a day practice. The horses we saw won 4 microwaves and ribbons for their owners at the last show! It is a sense of pride for the Chilean"cowboys". It is a resort town and has small shops as well. The weather is cooler as it is further south.

Cross the lake into Argentina's Patagonia..it took all day with a bus-boat-bus-boat-bus-boat-bus. First we took a bus to Petrohue and then a catamaran on Lake Todos Los Santos, a very green lake.The rides were very scenic as we admired Osorno Volcano. From Puella, rode to Puerto Frias and took a second catamaran and crossed Lake Frias . The bus took us over crushed black lava to Puerto Blest. Our third boat ride was across Lake Huapi, also green in hue and we had a picture perfect day. Arrived in Bariloche, Argentina. We can see 2 volcanoes from our room across the scenic 40 mile Lake Huapi. We could sit by our picture window all day! Went to a Patagonian Ranch where they raise sheep. Also visited an amazing Patagonian Museum where a knowledgeable Mr. Fixit had awesome displays. This small museum was packed with wonderfulinventions.

We went to the top of Campanario hill by chairlift and saw the most breathtaking views of this area..the Andes and all the lakes and fir tree covered islands are so spectacular.....that is by far the highlight of the entire trip! Wow!!!!!! Buenosaires..very hot , with tall buildings and European type architecture. Some buildings were palaces and brought here after being disassembled and reassembled here. Saw a beautiful Cathedral where ordinary folk confessed face to face to the priests. Attended a home hosted meal by a divorced mom of 4. She lived in a very small apartment with her high school age daughter loved everything American. We also saw some filming a movie/Tv show right near our hotel with lots of pink and purple confetti. City tour including impressive La Boca’s colorful buildings, impressive Recoleta cemetery and got Tango lessons! Attended the local antique market and also the craft markets where they create wonderful jewelry with silver and assorted stones, even changing stones on request as you watch them work. An amazing artisan carved a matchstick with an Xacto knife of a couple doing Tango. Parana Delta Tour..interesting how they have so many houses on stilts as their vacation homes. They had grocery stores on boat , a lot like Venice with lush greenery. Our guide, Luis was wonderful and the trip was great!

Chile Argentina Trip

More handicrafts

This is the artist who carved the matchstick in Buenos Aires, Argentina..

Here is a detail of a couple doing the Tango..

This woodcarving in done on a match done with an exacto knife! Also admired and added these colorful yarns to my collection... Here is a beautiful woven semi transparent wall hanging... you can see the vertical yarns against a background used to photograph them .

Handicrafts, Chile and Argentina

Just got back from an exciting trip from Chile and Argentina.

Here are some of the wonderful Handicrafts I brought home.

Got some wonderful silver earrings...and loved these wood hair accessories and hand painted wood buttons!

Name Mosaic

This Foyer table was created with tiles I brought home from Portugal and scraps of glass.
The much loved and scratched table now looks great.

The tilted glass bottle were great garage sale finds for $1.00 each and the Tiffany lamp was a wonderful find at the Mall of America.

Peacock Mosaic

Created in a frame so it is moveable. Currently hanges in my kitchen.

Mumbai

Am very disturbed by the chaos and terrorist situation in Mumbai where I grew up. Have been to the Taj Hotel many times and have stayed at the Oberoi.

The Taj faces the Gateway of India and the Arabian Sea. It was commissioned by Jamshedji Tata, Steel Man of India, after, according to a story, he was denied entry into one of the grandest hotels of British time - Watson’s Hotel as it was meant for ‘Whites only´. Tata wanted to set up his own hotel which would surpass Watson’s in all its glory. This is how India’s first super luxury hotel came into being.

Continue to worry about my Mom who enjoys the wonderful weather and sunshine during the Michigan winter and also about many relatives and friends.

Recycling with Pride quilt

Happened on a site that had my Recycling with Pride quilt that is still travelling....

I had forgotten all the things I had included in this very small 5 " quilt including Aluminum, Aluminum can tab, Bubblewrap, brass, Cheesecloth, copper, compost: crimped cardboard, dryer lint, Embroidery (tshirt) ,Feather, coffee Filter, Foil, found objects, found time, Gutter guard, glass, Hardware cloth, interfacing, Jewelry: earth earring, junk mail, lockwasher, lame, Magazine, newspaper, maps, Paper “Recycle” ; Plastic “Recycle” from milk jug , Ribbon, selvedges,Tyvek, Underwire, visa card logo,Windowscreen, xray film, yarn, zipper

The Quilting Arts website has some very interesting quilts with many recycled items...

http://www.quiltingarts.com/qamag/online_extra/more_Go_Green_quilts.html

Fabric Bookmarks

Fabric Bookmarks made for a fiberart swap online by rubbing Oil Paintsticks over stamps on black Fabric. Free Motion Quilted with metallic threads.

Quilt honoring my amazing grandmother
I feel a special kinship to my maternal grandmother who made many sacrifices for us. She left her village for two years and moved to Bombay so I could attend an English school. She married at thirteen and raised ten children. She couldn’t read or write but was patient, kind, caring and hard working. The quilt has a phototransfer of another quilt I made with her portrait( and my mother) set in a Kaleidoscope program. It is embellished with lots of shisha mirrros.

Hour Detroit Magazine Top Docs 2008

Am so proud my dh, John was among the Top Docs.

This was the third time he has been named on the annual list of Hour Detroit Magazine ..what an honor!

We enjoyed a wonderful evening in honor of all the Top Docs at the newly renovated Westin Book Cadillac. It was a fun, enchanting evening.

Amy's law graduation quilt

This quilt was made for my daughter Amy who finished law school this year. It took her just 6 years instead of 7... Wow...That is so awesome!

Her sister, Lisa was her sponsor when she took the oath and she was admitted to the Michigan bar. My daughters looked so professional and I am so proud of both of them.

Holi Quilt picture

Holi Festival Picture

Holi Quilt

My new Holi quilt celebrates India's spring festival.
People toss colored powders and squirt each other with colored water with water guns.

My quilt expresses the fun with shisha mirrors spelling the festival, Holi.
The powders are seen as a phototransfer in the letter L.
The letter I is the watergun squirting sequins and beads while dripping and oozing color.