Saturday, March 20, 2021

Santosha Project Quilting 12.6

As with many ongoing activities, it seems like it's been quite a while ago that the first Project Quilting challenge went out, and yet it seems hard to believe that 12 weeks have gone by and this is the last one.
This last challenge was Ab Intra, in other words, from within. Peel off the layers and who is the real you?


I had a long think about this over the week. By Wednesday afternoon I had decided to do a pouch, either for toiletries or sewing supplies; I wanted something useful. I hit upon the idea to make it using 2.5" squares where every other square would have a personal meaning, a pretty profound one. Alternating ones would be a low volume, and I'd chosen the leftover fabric of Free Motion Fantasy by Amanda Murphy.

Wait. That doesn't look like a toiletries pouch! 
It isn't. Let me explain...

On Thursday morning I started pulling fabric. I love that part, no matter the project. I'd started arranging them in the grid that I wanted for the pouch, and I had a big fat glorious mess in my sewing studio. Sometime that morning Brady group-texted us, showing us his Vision Board for a project about himself. I shared my progress with him, a fabric vision board! I thought this little incident was pretty cool, both of us working on 'my true self' projects.


Friday morning I was still mulling over my project, loving the symbolism in fabric I had pulled, but not entirely sold on my idea. However, I was tired of, as per usual, waffling and over-thinking it. That morning the random meditation that popped up when I searched a Daily Calm on YouTube (they're awesome btw) was on Santosha. I'd heard of it during my yoga teacher training, and here and there in practice, but I couldn't remember what it was.

Well.

It was perfect for all the mulling I'd been doing. Moreover, I had my 'vision' of what I'd make during the meditation.

A short note about the meaning of the Sanskrit word, santosha. It is divided into two parts. Sam (correctly spelled) means entirely or completely, and tosha means acceptance or contentment.
Together they mean complete contentment. Satisfaction with who we are right now. Accepting ourselves and appreciating what we have. The feeling of there being enough.  Not that we won't continue to learn and grow, but we start from the foundation we have now and we build from there. Here is a great short article explaining this very important niyama or tool (there are five in yoga philosophy) for cultivating happiness and self-confidence.

So, after meditation, I got to work, excited about what I had envisioned: a heart shaped 'pillow', where the stuffing would be the little 2.5" squares, which I would sandwich and quilt. In my pulling of fabric, I'd come across a scrap of really cool fabric that took me back to the 70s in elementary school assemblies where the teacher put some sort of water/oil/food colouring or paint mixture on an overhead or opaque projector and made psychedelic swirling designs on a big screen. They fascinated me. I knew I'd use that fabric scrap for the heart front. My deep love of water is symbolized by the pillow back, and blue is my favourite colour, turquoise and royal blue my favourites. I made an envelope-style pillow back (upon which I contemplated for some time due to the points). Here it is all stuffed, but not pressed.

I ended up with 48 squares altogether. I wanted a number divisible by three because three is my favourite number, my birth date, and represents body, mind and spirit. That meant that I'd have 24 little quilts. I pinked the edges, and used my favourite Sulky Holoshimmer metallic thread to quilt them, as well as the heart for the sparkle. Each of us is a spark, right? Aurifil 2600 grey was in the bobbin.

I FMQ-ed the heart (that was a blast!) and it all came together rather quickly; the pillow was complete Friday night. Then I had the idea to hand embroider Santosha on the pillow back. I did some of the embroidery, along with some reading, outside on the deck in the sun on Saturday, a great way to spend the first day of Spring! 

A few words on a few of the 'raviolis' lol: I'm a sun-lover; no matter the season or temperature, I function much better when the skies are blue. Home is super-important to me, and the little igloos are a nod to my country, for which I have a deep love. You'll find more than one square of trees and nature fabrics, a profound, inexplicable, lifelong love of all things French, nods to quilting and sewing, the deeper meaning of life. In short this little pillow, which I plan to hang in a corner of my studio where it can twirl and catch the light, is precious because it is me, and the squares found within have multiple levels of meaning for me.

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: original design
Size: 7.5" x 8"
Fabric: scraps and stash
Backing: as above
Batting: Quilter's Dream 100% wool in the little quilts; Warm n Natural in the heart
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads: Aurifil and Sulky as noted

Here is a collage of the six projects I did for PQ Season 12. It was great fun! Thank you to Kim and Trish for hosting.





17 comments:

  1. Beautiful, and the little ravioli parcels, each with a special meaning, add to it all. in their own special ways. I can see you looking at this and maybe pulling out a parcel each day.leaving it there to admire and ponder over, then putting it to bed in its special pocket at night for a well earned sleep.

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  2. I've been waiting to see what you made for this challenge, since I knew it was made for you. I struggled with it, but you got right to it and came up with something completely you! Well done!

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  3. I love how you took the challenge and made it your own, I love what you made! This was my least favourite of the 6 challenges.

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  4. Such a beautiful heart (a little hippie in you, huh) with those wonderful little pillow messages inside. You really embrace the challenge and make it uniquely yours. So happy you found your inspiration. I love the photo display of all six of your challenges. Congratulations for a great PQ season.

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  5. What a unique project to represent the inner YOU of the PQ12.6 prompt, Sandra!!

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  6. A lovely interpretation of your challenge & all the different meanings of the mini quilts. Well done & thanks for sharing. Take care, stay safe & hugs.

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  7. Hi Sandra! What a way to take a challenge prompt and run with it! WOWEE. This is SO you, and for you, and so special. I love every single bit of it. {{Hugs}} Great job. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  8. Wow...that is a great project. You really hit it out of the park. Love the mini quilts.

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  9. I love them all, but tha Varadero Vibe... Mmmmm... It's everything just right... the colors, the orientation, the organic shapes, the movement, the spacing... love, Love, LOVE!!

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  10. OMG I love it start to finish. So meaningful, I like things French, trees, sun and the beach too... oh it's perfect. I especially like the mantra or goal for me, acceptance. That can bring peace

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  11. Uniquely you, just as the prompt says.
    Pat

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  12. Wow, fantastic. I think I'm going to have to redo mine and 'steal'/borrow this idea; I love it. So you, and so unique. I love it, thanks for sharing.

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  13. You rocked it with this heart and ravioli stuffing Sandra. All of your projects for the PQ Challenge were so inspiring and touched me in some way. Thank you for sharing your inspiration

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  14. What a cool project and so Sandra! I love everything about this, but my favorite part is you and Brady both working on vision boards.

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  15. Really enjoyed reading this and seeing the little "raviolis" you made.

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  16. Special and wonderful! What an original idea! I love the little “raviolis”

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