For Inika

Priya is a good friend. We met while working in the same organization while i was stationed at Bombay. In mid 2011, Priya was blessed with a baby girl. They named her Inika meaning 'little earth' What a beautiful name!

Once Priya got back to work post her maternity break, is when i decided to make a baby quilt for Inika. This was late 2011. i had two themes in mind - butterflies and ladybirds. The new mamma chose butterflies, so butterflies it was.

• for the top of the quilt, i used striped shirting material - again for the texture and the shine. I somehow seem to have an affinity for striped! Probably it adds to the fullness feel when you look at the piece. 
• the size was not too big - two and a half feet in width and five feet in length.
• the batting was poly fill sheets
• the backing was soft off white cotton
• the colours were based on the shirting material i had sourced, which was peach.
• for the design, i decided to place the butterflies in such a manner that the quilt could be used either ways length wise. This was something which i had realized after making Michelle's quilt. That was only one -sided length wise. 
• the bodies of the butterflies were all in light blue which lent a certain uniformity to the six creatures on the quilt.
• an idea which struck me (and which i loved) was to also include Priya's daughter's name!
• i used broad running stitches which gave a stringing effect to the name which was appliqued on either sides  and also gave the feel of everything coming together.

This is a close up of one end of the quilt. i appliqued three butterflies on either ends and also a few flowers. The name 'Inika' was also appliqued on either ends. The butterflies had smiling faces with eyes which were stuck on to them.

What i loved about this piece was the baby's name. It just made it feel so personal, made exclusively for her. One thing i would have done differently was to keep the piping the same all around. Now, when i look at the picture i really don't know why i chose that dull peach for piping along the breadth of the quilt. Also, i now think i should have made it a little bigger. Wonder what i was thinking!

Priya liked the quilt and i believe Inika was thrilled to see the number of butterflies! Apparently she kept going from one butterfly to the other!