Having FUN!

Last night, I had a great time. My friend, Chana, and I went to the monthly meeting of the Baltimore Heritage Quilt Guild. This was my old guild from before we moved to Israel 20 years ago. I recognized some of the ladies I had known 20 years ago. Even my friend, Susan Minster, was there. 

The guest speaker at the meeting was quilter extraordinaire, Sujata Shah. 

You may have read her blog, The Root Connection, or seen her book, Cultural Fusions. 

Sujata started off with a slide show. She presented pictures from her native India, showing how her approach to color and pattern were influenced by her experience growing up there. She talked about the way she works, and how her working style evolved. 

She was influenced by the block-printing process in India. 

She takes traditional quilt blocks and uses them in her own colors and style.

African textiles have been a source of inspiration.

It was a pleasure to see the cover quilt from her book in real life.

Sujata's Crazy Quilt. She has learned a lot from Gwen Marston and the Gee's Bend quilters.

For some reason, this is one of my favorite quilts. I guess because she cut her triangles free-form, it has the scrappy look I love, and the solid halves of the HSTs are all different shades of earth tones. 

More free-form triangles. Sujata says that one of the things she loves about art in India is that is full of imperfections, giving a true hand-made feel. She strives for this in her own work. 

Hourglass blocks, the Sujata way. Lots of variation in shapes and shades. She wanted to create a quilt that would look like it was hanging on the line and blowing in the wind, the way the quilts are hung on the line in her native India. There is so much movement in this quilt!

Organized Chaos...

The quilt Sujata will be teaching in her workshop for the guild today

And finally, the guild's raffle quilt. The top is stitched together, and the quilt will be ready in time for the guild's show, some time next year. Isn't she a beauty?

Thanks for enjoying the guild meeting along with me. And thank you, Chana, for showing me your quilts at your house after the meeting. That was the best part of the evening!