Kawandi...

Congrats to Boud and Magpie for knowing what my colorful stitching project was a week or so ago.  I thought you two might come through with the correct name!

A few weeks ago the video below popped up in my YouTube feed.  I watched it, mesmerized by the character of Margaret Fabrizio, and her story of learning how to create a type of quilt that is made in India.  This particular quilt is called a kawandi.  Kawandi means "quilt" in the language spoken by the Siddi's.  The Siddi people are of African descent; their ancestors being taken to India as slaves - first by Arabs in the 600's, then by Portuguese, and finally by the British.

In case you're interested, here is the interview of Margaret Fabrizio conducted by Joe (The Quilter) Cunningham:

The video doesn't explain how the quilts are made, but the last 10 minutes or so show Margaret working on a small kawandi.   After the above video, I watched other tutorials on making kawandis, and I finally decided I needed to make one.  A very small one.

I looked through my stash of older, somewhat sedate cotton quilt fabrics that I inherited from my mother-in-law, but at the time I was in serious need of some cheery colors.  So I headed to JoAnn's to see if I could find some happy budget-priced fabric.  I was thrilled to find a great sale on fat quarters, and I came home with these:

First, a bit of an explanation as to how kawandis are made...   First of all, the Siddis make their colorful blankets using scraps of fabric and fabric taken from clothing that is no longer being worn.  Old saris are also used in different ways in these kiwandis.  There is a backing fabric, a lining fabric, and torn pieces of many colors of fabric to make up the front of the kiwandi.

In videos I've seen (I think that Margaret filmed when she was in India), the Siddi  women sit on the ground as they tear squares and rectangle of various fabrics, finger press the edges, and sew the pieces to the backing using a simple running stitch through all the layers of fabrics.  

Aside from using new fabrics, and an iron to press my edges, pins to hold my fabrics together, and wanting a border on my project, I tried to assemble my small kawandi in the same way the Siddi women make their larger ones.  

The pieces are stitched on, starting on whatever edge feels comfortable for the hand you are stitching with.  I worked from the left and went around clockwise.  Whichever direction one stitches, working around the perimeter of the blanket, pieces of fabric are stitched down all along the edge of the backing material. After the first round of pieces are attached, a lining fabric is inserted under the flaps of the pieces stitched on up to that point.  You can see the white lining I used in the following picture:

The stitching goes around and around moving inward until finally when the last stitch is made in the center,  the quilt is completely finished.  I believe the Siddi end each round of stitching with a knot, and then begin a new round about a finger's width from the round before it.  I did that a few times before finally deciding to just make a square spiral because I was using the same color of thread for all the stitches.  There was no reason I couldn't just keep going 'round and 'round until I ran out of thread and needed to add a new one.

The edges of the fabric pieces are either finger-pressed or iron-pressed in such a way as to make finished edges as one stitches round and round.   The edges that lay under fabric, unseen, are left unfolded and unfinished

My running stitches are smaller and rounds closer together than I've seen others make them, but on this small project, I think it works well.  My stitches are far from perfect - they are not the same size, or even straight sometimes, and the distances between my rounds are varied.

But, I don't care! While I'm not ready to make another very soon, I love how my little kawandi turned out:

The little triangles at the corners are called phulas in the language of the Siddis, and also in Hindi.  Phula means flowers or blossoms.  While I took some liberties, I wanted to make this traditionally where I felt it was important to do so.  And kawandis traditionally have a phula at each corner.  That said, I'm not exactly in love with my phulas.  Fortunately, I can undo that first round of stitching and remove them if I decide to.  Or maybe I should make phulas from some of the prints.  Maybe I'd like that better.

For now, it stands finished looking like this, and I couldn't be happier.  My little kawandi is right at 14 inches square.  Would I love this to be larger, like blanket-sized.  Oh yes!  It would make a perfect-weight summer blanket.  Do I envision ever making a blanket-sized kawandi?  I don't know...  It was kind of mesmerizing to make, but it was also tedious, and my fingers got sore after stitching for very long.  

In truth, I've been eyeing Sashiko stiching and I am intrigued at the intricate designs that are made with simple running stitches, many in simple straight lines - I had no real understanding of how Sashiko stitching is done until just recently. I'm not sure when or if I'll try that, but for now, I'm giving the pads of my fingers a break from needle and thread, and I've picked up my crochet hook to make some doilies.

I'm also eyeing my collection of crochet threads, thinking they would make decent sashiko or kawandi stitching thread.  The possibilities for using my stash are opening up as I type...