Quilt Finish – Mahendra

In the eternal words of the diva herself, Mariah Carey, “It’s like that, y’all!” Time to show off another quilt finish, this time a little lady I like to call Mahendra. She’s a lap sized quilt with bold colours, subtle shimmer and loads of personality. Just like my friend Shezly, who ultimately inspired everything about this quilt and who will be receiving it!

I originally picked up many of these fabrics from the Australian Modern Quilt Show in August 2019. Per usual, when I shop I tend to make my own bundles up as I go along so everything is already coordinated. Navy, black, pink and orange, who knew I loved them so! Well, when I got them home, I threw in some of my other favourites from Tula Pink, Alison Glass, Anna-Maria Horner and Cotton+Steel. Oh, and a few fanciful additions from Alexander Henry and a wild flamingo! I swear my stash is way cooler than I am!

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This quilt was born out of my necessity to finally use my Hex N More ruler by Jaybird Quilts. I feel like I’ve had that thing since the beginning of my quilt journey, and it has sat quietly on the sidelines. Oh, but it never hesitated to taunt me! Or guilt trip me when I didn’t pick it up from my other stack of rulers and notions. I know it makes like a thousand and one different designs (all of which are phenomenally impressive), but for this quilt, I chose to shine bright like a diamond with the jewel shape.

I have the larger version of the Hex N More ruler, so it was a matter of just using it like a template and cutting around the perimeter. I also then used it to cut out the in-fill triangles. I took inspiration from the original Jaybird Quilts design called Lotus. However, I tried to modernise it even more by creating the colour swipe through the middle and then using extremely low volume fabrics for the corners. This addition of negative space is generating using the same shapes as the rest of the quilt, just with different fabrics.

I’ve previously called these types of low volumes “white noise” fabrics because they can easily read as white, but offer some subtle colour variations upon closer inspection. But then when you only use ones from Jennifer Sampou’s Shimmer collections, oh honey, you can sparkle right down that catwalk! I definitely wanted this quilt to reference the saturated hues of jewels and combine that with fabrics that literally sparkle in the sun. If you knew Shezly, you’d appreciate how much this personifies her! She is a self-described queen!

I had it quilted up with a diamond motif by Leanne at Mount Vincent Quilts which gives it just the right amount of loft and drape. Even though it is technically a quilt, it’s extremely lightweight, so good for those warmer climates. I’m sure I’m not the only one to wrap myself in a quilt in the summer time!

Even though I didn’t use this Anna-Maria Horner, Pretty Potent fabric in the front of the quilt, I thought its colour way made an unbelievable match to the rest of the fabrics. Since I had some excess yardage, I created a modern colour block backing, and also used it for the binding. Doesn’t it feel great when you find the perfect backing fabric in your stash!? I usually do a little happy dance! Champagne may sometimes also be involved!

I’ve now got it packaged up and ready to send to my friend Shezly as a belated wedding gift. One small problem: She and her new husband are living in India, and the country is currently not accepting mailed packages due to COVID. Understandable, but also shocking. So until the postal service resumes, I guess she’ll have to keep shining here with me!

Title: Mahendra
Size: 52″ x 72″
Pattern: Inspired by Jaybird Quilts Lotus quilt design
Fabric: Molli Sparkles curated bundle, largely Cotton+Steel, Tula Pink, Anna-Maria Horner, & Alison Glass
Quilting: Long arm quilting, by Mount Vincent Quilts
Binding: hand stitched with Aurifil 50wt
Backing: Pieced backing using Anna-Maria Horner Pretty Potent, Tula Pink Zuma, and Jennifer Sampou Shimmer
Favourite Part: Using the Hex N More ruler