2023 comes to a close and as 2024 opens up, I have lofty plans of how I can restart my quilting journey. A few things I intend to accomplish are listed below…Just ensuring I put it out there so I complete a few of them out of sheer peer pressure #1: Baby quilts: I have 3 quilt tops in this segment and they need to be bsted and quilted soon as tehya re gifts. #2:Mom’s quilt: It has been a WIP for far too long so the quilting needs to be completed asap. This is an HST quilt in her favourite colourways. #3: Quilt for in-laws: the blocks are almost complete but I ran out of fabric mid ..read more

I have always wanted to make a Nine patch quilt. A while back I started making blocks with yellow and red centres from all the scraps I gather, made a few blocks too. Its a long term project that will slowly come up when the other projects are done and scraps remain. A friend had made a hand sewn quilt top similar to the one I had in mind and sent it over to quilt. I jumped at the opportunity. Just see how beautiful it looks. I may not have added the multiple borders into mine but totally happy with this one and the opportunity it brought forward. The entire quilt has stitch in the ditch and ..read more

A banana cake is the easiest to bake. Over the last year, during the COVID lockdown, people have baked many a banana breads and cakes. I have myself been baking banana cakes since childhood as they are super yumm and turn out great every single time with some basic kitchen staples. Also the batter does need to be beaten, just mixed together so comes together super quick. This is however, the second attempt at this cake. They first one got burnt on top and had a raw base as the oven settings were off and I didn’t realize that while baking the cake. So lesson learnt, best to check oven settings ..read more

I received the background fabric as part of an Ambassador program and was completely unsure on what to make out of it. I finally settled on an applique quilt and to say that it was an utter disaster would be a mild way of putting it…ha ha For quilters, not every quilt is a success. But more about that later. What it finally turned out to is this beautiful and bright quilt. Happy to have been able to save the quilt top and convert into a beautiful bright quilt. Also glad I coudl use traditional Indian fabric to make a modern looking quilt Tagging to the One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilt as ..read more

The first cake in the year had to be special. It being the strawberry season, this was a good starting point. So without much ado, lets dive in into the recipe. I hope you give this fruit cake a try and make a few cakes for your loved ones. Please read the notes section as I have put in some of my own learnings to help you make it a successful bake. Ingredients: 2 cups maida 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 cup sugar 1 cup curd 1/4 cup milk 1 tsp lemon zest 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup strawberries, few sliced and rest chopped Method: Sift the maida with the ..read more

Recently I received this Kalamkari fabric as part of an Ambassadorship program. Kalamkari, literally stands for art made with a pen. Traditionally and even today, this fabric is usually free hand painted on silk using only natural vegetable dyes. Such sarees are exquisite and expensive. The art is said to have originated in Iran. The motifs are nature inspired and vary between leaves, twines, flowers and sometimes elaborate and detailed birds painted with double curved lines and shapes filled with natural dyes. The art form is from the Southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. More recently, ma ..read more

The Sunflower Memory Quilt This is one of my earlier quilts made in 2015 and submitted it for the 1st HV India Quilt Completion in 2015. This is how the introduction looked when posted about my Quilt. “It gives us immense pleasure & honor to introduce the Entry # 10 for the – Husqvarna Viking India, PFAFF India & Handi Quilter India – Quilt Competition 2015 with utmost pride & joy : As Quoted By Sonalee Suchismita, Mumbai, Maharashtra : I am an Indian, very brown. I speak three languages, talk in two, dream in one. I am Sonalee and my family lovingly calls me Leena…friends, more ..read more

With the festive season upon us, it does feel like winter is here and one tries to feel the nip in the air during the early morning walks; soon to realise that its more a childhood memory than the actual weather change in Mumbai, locally. With the onset of Autumn or what we called just winter then, mom would pull out our warm clothes from under the bed, new crochet caps matching our dresses would magically appear in the mornings and we would just crave warm beverages all the time. Here is a recipe, which is definitely not from my childhood but definitely reminiscent of that nip in the air we f ..read more

This month as I sit down to write my Creative goal for October, I feel like I could pick up a needle and thread and work on some hand embroidery projects. First among them is this line drawing I downloaded from the net. Its the Gateway of India in Mumbai. I hope I do justice to this magnificent monument built in the 20th century. Its one of the major tourist attractions of Mumbai and I no touristy tour of the city is complete until you click a few memorable pics here. Tagging this to One Monthly Goal for Oct’21 on Elm Street Quilts ..read more

Summer school is a free pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Company. I had saved it for a day when the quilty aunt would make a new quilt for new born in the family. The time has come, and suddenly I have 3 nieces (one yet to be born) and a nephew. What more joy than this for a quilter aunt whose Pinterest Quilt board is overflowing with interesting pins. Summer School Baby Quilt My bright “Summer School” baby quilt is made entirely from my stash and picking all these lovely shades from my cupboard just makes my heart full. Well! Well! Some people call it fabric hoarding, but how is that a bad th ..read more