One Lovely Blog Award And Friendship

My Pixie | Whims And FanciesMy girl and my best friend – Pixie

I very recently met Lara and it was instant friendship.  It feels like I have known her forever.  Susie is the first friend I made when I started writing here.  So it is specially wonderful to be selected by both a new AND an old friend for the One Lovely Blog Award.  Susie and Lara are friends with each other as well, isn’t that wonderful?

One Lovely Blog Award | Whims And Fancies

I love visiting Lara at Buzzing Bumble and Susie at Susie’s Sunroom.  If you don’t know them already, you must really pay them a visit.  I promise you will not regret it!

For the seven things about me that I need to share for this blog hop,  I decided to pick seven words and pair them up with photos I’ve taken.

 

Ink

Love Of Notebooks And Ink | Whims And FanciesA Very Small Subset Of My Ink And Paper Collection

I grew up on top of my grandfather’s large printing business which printed books, among other items.  I learned about different stocks of paper, various types of ink, book binding techniques, etc. at a very early age.  The sounds and smells of the large printing machines, ink, paper, glue, typesets – it was magical.  I was hooked for life to the world made of ink and paper which turned into a passion for art.

 

Books

Foyles Books London | Whims And Fancies

Advertisement At A London Tube Station

I have always lived mainly within the pages of books, away from the world around me.  I walk around glumly for days when a book disappoints me.  I stay in a haze every time I say goodbye to my ink-and-paper friends at the end of a book.  It all started with my aunt telling me stories when I was too young to read.  Then it continued on with my mother taking me to large annual book fairs and with reading from my grandmother’s book collection.

 

Camera

Valley View, Yosemite National Park | Whims And Fancies

Winter in Yosemite National Park, California

Lenses are an old hobby of mine.  I see the world through the camera lens.  My camera is my security blanket and the source of my confidence.  I wake up at wee hours to catch the first sunlight,  I even hike up the sides of mountains despite my severe acrophobia, all for that one perfect shot!  ( My husband has the yawns and the droopy eyes to prove it! )

To see the world in a grain of sand,
And heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

                                   – William Blake

 

Rocks

Liberty Cap Nevada Falls, Yosemite National Park, California | Whims And Fancies

John Muir Trail, Yosemite National Park, California

I study rocks and I collect them.  So, if I get a bag of coal, that is a very good thing.  Although it feels a bit nightmarish for me to ever settle down in one place, the diversity of California’s geology has kept me here, camping, hiking and exploring. I specially love the Sierra Mountains.

This picture was taken from the John Muir trail.  Towards the end of the hike, instead of checking the map, we decided to follow our instinct.  So, a 6-mile hike turned into …. wait for it… a whopping 7-mile hike!!!

 

Stars

Milky Way | Whims And Fancies

Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Park, California

It’s a love affair.  When it’s dark outside with clear skies and my nose is not stuck in a book, you will most probably find me peering through my telescopes, with a little help from my husband because of their weight.  Currently I am in the process of building a radio telescope at home.

 

Travel

Fjord, Norway | Whims And Fancies

Heading Into Gairangerfjord, Norway

I have to travel, or I fall apart.  Before a trip I read, I do research and I pore over maps.  It’s a ritual for me.  Then I whisk my husband away on an exhausting trip.  I want to soak in everything about the new place without wasting a single moment.

 

Cold

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park | Whims And Fancies

Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

I was born in January, and I have a feeling Old Man Winter must have made me using a little piece of himself.  I have been in the icy arctic rain with an ear-to-ear smile on my face.  Winter is when I am outside the most.  Those of you who abhor winter, don’t judge me, I was born this way.

 

Now it’s my turn to pass the torch.  Not only do I love the diverse art these ladies create, I also feel very comfortable nominating them because of their encouraging personalities and their eagerness to share and help.  I know you will love them too.

Beth @ Cooking Up Quilts
Cheryl @ Meadow Mist Designs
Esther @ I Patch And Quilt
Kris @ Kris Loves Fabric
Mary @ Needlemom

 Also please remember to visit Lara at Buzzing Bumble and Susie at Susie’s Sunroom.

 

Weeping Angel Quilt | Whims And Fancies

It is to their credit that I am ready to try Free Motion Quilting on this angel block. Wish me luck!!

And have fun visiting my friends,
-Soma

 

 

Leave a comment

 

Supermassive Black Hole

Music Quilt - Guitar, Drums, Microphone Quilt Patterns | Whims And Fancies

 

Music Instruments patterns in my Shop

 

Music has played a major role in my life since I was a teenager.  Quite often it provides the escape, the focus and the peace of mind that can’t be found elsewhere.  I listen to and play both classical and modern music and I love them both.  After I made the classical Piano Trio music quilt, I just had to make a rock music quilt.  I made the instruments a while back but was waiting for the complementing quilting design to come to me.

 

I love Muse.  A week doesn’t go by where I don’t listen to a song by them.  I can’t believe that I didn’t think of this design sooner, even though the song Supermassive Black Hole has been blaring in my ears regularly.  Add that idea to my love of cosmology, and I couldn’t move away from the picture of a supermassive black hole with jets escaping from the middle quilted on my rock music piece.  I was giddy with excitement!

 

 

Using tracing paper for quilting | Whims And Fancies

 

 

This is how I quilt quite often.  Instead of transferring the design onto the quilt, I use sheets of tracing paper and quilt on them directly.  I draw the design on the computer and print it out on tracing paper.  I trim the sheets of tracing paper to 8″ x 11″ so I can feed them into my printer.  Since the design is printed in segments on each sheet,  I use tape to join the sheets to each other.

 

If I decide to draw the design by hand, then I tape the sheets to each other before drawing the design.  Finally, I baste the quilt along with the design paper on top.  I then quilt over the design lines.  Once I finish quilting, I tear the paper off.  I haven’t tried this process on a large quilt yet, but it works really well on mini quilts.

 

 

Piano Trio Music Quilt - Piano Violin Cello Quilt Pattern | Whims and Fancies

 

Music Instruments patterns in my Shop

 

I used a very woody, low-volume setting for the Piano Trio.  I quilted a design based on an evenly-spaced, spiraling music stave.  This gives it a calm and harmonious feel, very much the way I see classical music.

 

 

Music Quilt - Guitar, Drums, Microphone Quilt Patterns | Whims And Fancies

 

Music Instruments patterns in my Shop

 

I used spirals for the rock music quilt too, but they are a lot more chaotic.  I also used bright yellow and red thread to quilt it whereas I used low-tone ecru and brown on the Piano Trio.  This little quilt has very different kind of dynamics.  It’s colourful and moody.

 

I could never choose between classical and rock music.  I love them both and they each touch my soul in different ways.  That’s how I suppose they are reflected in these two music quilts.

 

 

-Soma

 

 

 

Leave a comment

 

Copyright © 2025 InkTorrents Graphics , All Right Reserved.  Privacy Policy

error: Content is protected !!