Quilt Designs Everywhere

It’s been a while, friends, but I’m back and ready to get sewing again. My husband, Jim, and I recently returned from a very unexpected trip to India. We were invited to a wedding there, not only as guests, but to stand in for the bride’s parents during all the ceremonies throughout the three-day event. It was an opportunity we could not pass up. I can’t even begin to do justice to the Indian wedding, so all I have to say is, if you ever get the chance, take it. It was amazing.

But we are here to talk quilting so I want to share a few pictures of quilty inspiration I found throughout the trip.

 

 

Welcome to the United Arab Emirites. Our connecting flight was through Abu Dhabi and this is the carpet in the airport. 

We flew into Delhi and toured the city. This is the Gurundwars Sri Bangla Sahib, a Sikh temple in New Delhi. Many gurundwars (temples) have a langar, a community kitchen, that serves food to all who enter, regardless of religion, need, or ethnicity. It was amazing to see the cooking operation as this temple feeds thousands of people every day. Everyone eats together, seated on the floor and the day we were there the room was full.

After Delhi, we traveled to Agra to visit the iconic Taj Mahal.

Inside the Taj Mahal (photos not allowed), there were many designs that would make beautiful quilts, but there was also inspiration outside on the wall.

The Agra Fort had so many quilt designs!

Next we went to Jaipur and saw a demonstration of block printing on fabric. It is tedious work, but the results are so pretty. My only stash acquisition of the trip was a small piece of one of fabrics from this place. 

After the wedding, we went to Goa to recuperate at the beach on the Arabian Sea. This was the carpet at The Seashell Suites and Villas (I highly recommend this hotel if you ever plan a trip to Goa!).

We ended the trip in Mumbai. This is some of the street art. Not only does the wall have a quilt design, but the trash can does too!

This is the elevator in our hotel.

And the floor in a restaurant where we had lunch.

This Afghan Church is being rebuilt, but I noticed a quilty brick design on the sides of the door.

The Bombay Baptist Church also had some inspiration with the hexie sidewalk and swirly quilting designs on the fence.

I know I’m not the only quilter who is looking for quilting glimmers everywhere. Don’t be surprised if you see a quilt pattern or two from these designs. 

This is but a handful of the thousands of pictures from the trip. We did so much research and planning before we left to make sure everything went smoothly and we didn’t get sick. It all went according to plan until the very end. We were one mile away from the airport to fly home when I came down with violent food poisoning. I’ll just say that it was a LONG 27 hours from Mumbai to Appleton! Fortunately, after a couple of rest days, I was better.

It’s been busy since we’ve been back, but I’m ready to get back to my sewing room and get to work. I am rewriting the Road to Oklahoma pattern that I first published on this website in 2014 and thought it would be fun to have a Quilt Along to go along with the new pattern. 

Look for details on this soon. This pattern is a great way to use fabric, make quilts, and have fun!