Sunday 21 September 2008

SARI SILK QUILT

This is the Quilt I made with the Sari Silks, I spoke about on a previous post. I made it for a competition I was to enter, for FANS, I decided straight away I wanted to make a fan dancer, but, as I couldn't draw, I enlisted the help of a chap where my daughter worked at the time. The Fire Service. A Fire fighter no less. To record for prosperity his part in this Quilt, on the sleeve on the back I have appliqued a picture of a Fireman's helmet in Gold, with his name and the fact he is a firefighter, I suppose I should really have taken a picture of that. Sorry. Suzanne if you are reading this, can you do one for me, pretty please?

The Quilt is made completely with sari silks apart from; the men's dinner jackets and the dancer's body. Oh a funny little story about the body is, I asked could he not have any of the bodies 'bits' showing, I had no wish to offend anyone at the Quilt show, also I didn't want her feet showing, I didn't think I would be able to translate feet very well and I didn't want it to look grotesque. He did me a wonderful sketch on a piece of A4 paper. Hmm, had to beg him to re-draw it onto the vilene I was going to use, in the size I was going to do. Luckily I wasn't there when Suzanne asked him! As you can see he did it for me and I was absolutely thrilled with it.



When I started to stitch I realised I would have to make this in sections, due to the sari silk catching all the time. I didn't want it to have any 'ladders'. So all the fans were made separately, the men were made separately the curtains, the swags, the tie backs, the hair,; oh I loved making that hair.
The Curtains were a nightmare to do. I trolled through loads of magazines until I found the desired effect I was looking for. Looking at this now I feel the curtains are too thin. But there we go, I was pleased at the time, I am still pretty much pleased with the effect of this, Suzanne loved it so I gave it to her. There was nowhere in our little bungalow that it 'suited' to display. I believe it lives under her bed in a drawer!! No matter.

The back of the quilt is poly cotton, this you must realise was made in I believe 1993, I was unable to afford 100% cotton in those days. The only way I was able to make the front in sari silks was because I could buy it for....wait for it....£2 yard. Yep. I used to buy it from an Indian shop. The lady became great friends with me and used to let me have a really 'good measure'. This is how I have so much of it. I couldn't buy it now for that price I bet. Anyway, enough chat, here is a close up of it. Enjoy.Forgot to say. This was of course made on my old Singer sewing machine..it was a Singer 257. Fabulous machine. I wore it out!

7 comments:

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Hi Jan,
I love your quilt. It's beautiful. Don't you just love the Sari Silk. I have the same problem with spinning the sari silk fibers. They stick to my fingers. I put lots of lotion on my hands before working with silk.
You asked about the header picture on my blog. That quilt belonged to my Memaw (my father's mother) She was a great quilter. I have several of her quilts. They are very special to me. Here is a link to some better pictures of that particular quilt. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page. It's one of my favorites because it has lots of pink and blue colors. Those are my two favorite colors. Thanks for visiting. Isn't it amazing how these blogs can connect people all around the world. Happy quilting

~ Phyllis ~ said...

I just realized I forget the link
http://spinknitandlife.blogspot.com/search/label/quilts

jan said...

Oh silly me Phyllis, of course I had seen it on your Blog before, it just looks so different at the top displayed with your wools. I still love it to bits.
Thank you for your kind comments on my Quilt. I use talcum powder sometimes on my hands to stop the slipping! Sometimes it works!
Yes the WWW sure is wonderful, I would never have met so many lovely people like yourself, if I didn't have my computer. :-)

Maggie R said...

Hi Jan,
This silk quilt is amazing. So beautiful and the quilting is so pretty. I have never worked with this fabric but in May my fibre art group is going on a bus trip to Totonto and one of our stops is Little India. I am looking forward to buying some silk there. Can't wait....
See ya later ;=}xoxo
(((hugs))))
Maggie

Maggie R said...

Woops... my typing is bad this morning... I meant to say TORONTO ,
NOY Totonto!!!!!LOL
xoxo
(((hugs))))
Maggie

jan said...

Hi Maggie,
Thank you for your comment Maggie, it was a 'b' to make, but I loved it, I must make another silk quilt. I have so much of it. lol jan

jan said...

heehee I like Totonto too