Back in May I did the Making Zen retreat and one of the workshops was with Jennifer Strauser from Dizzy Quilter making a Kawandi style quilt square.
Apparently a Kawandi quilt has its origins in both Africa and India and is a hand stitched quilt made from scrap fabric, including silk saris. Basically you cut the batting, then the backing a bit larger than the batting and the top layer is assembled by turning under the edges of the scraps and sewing them down to the backing in a square spiralling from the outside into the centre. This distinguishes it from boro and kantha quilts which use straight rows.
Traditionally there are some little Phula flowers sewn to the corners, but I had no interest in doing this.
I duly made one Kawandi style square using scraps from my scrap bin and here it is, the front and back. I included a piece of silk Sari in here, some Japanese kimono silk, a piece of Victorian curtain, some Indian fabric of various types, some vintage fabric, and some regular fabric.
Having made my square I began to wonder what to do with it. I don’t like having things lying around with no purpose, so I thought I’d made nine of them, which would give me a little rug measuring 90cm x 90cm. A family discussion resulted in me agreeing to make it twelve squares, then when I’d done that, it was thought that 20 squares would be better. It went on and on (or so it seemed) and I finished up making it 30 squares, or a finished size of 180 x 150cms, which is so much bigger than I intended.
I used thin bamboo batting, some of which was pieced from scraps and the rest cut from a big piece I have. The fronts are all made from scraps, not as small as those used in the tutorial, but I couldn’t see the point in cutting my biggish scraps into little ones. I also veered away from the rectangles as is traditional and just used the shapes of the fabrics as I pulled them from my tub of scraps. It’s a magical tub by the way, it never seems to empty.
I used some pink crochet cotton size 80, which is very fine. It took nearly an entire reel to make the whole quilt, and it took me four months to make the final 30 squares.
Once I had them all I had to lay them out to get a pleasing layout, but in the end I laid it out with the backs facing upwards so that I didn’t have any fabric repeats next to each other. I’m incapable of a pleasing layout anyway. I numbered the squares from 1 to 30 so I knew the order of construction and began joining them.
I had no idea how I was going to join them when I began, but after a bit of trial and error, I decided that whip stitching them from the wrong side was the way to go.
Please note that the knots are supposed to be hidden inside the quilted squares but I was a bit hit and miss with this as you can see.
I thought it would take me months to join all those squares together but in the end it took just a few evenings.
Having put it together I felt it needed a label, which had to be hand stitched of course. I have a lettering stencil but in the end used my Cricut and a washable fabric marker pen to write on a piece of blue bamboo sheeting and then I backstitched over the top with some purple Japanese silk thread .
I chose “Hand sewn” as against “hand made” as I felt it was more descriptive of what I did. I stitched it to one of the backing squares.
I hadn’t even done a final press before my husband had it on our bed, which was not my intended destination for it.
I’m not convinced it goes with the decor, but that’s ok.
The way the scraps are assembled is quite random but I do enjoy looking at it.
I can hardly believe I hand stitched all this as I’m not known for my patience.
I’m having so much fun with my grandchildren, they really are a joy.
I wonder if they will inherit my quilt one day and wrap themselves in a granny hug!
What a fabulous use of scrap fabric Sue. And as far as it not going with the decor – nonsense! With all those colours it will go with everything 😊
Aww, thank you Kim. It is a great scrap buster but I’m still drowning in them!
It’s a beauty Sue! No wonder your husband immediately put it on display. Patience is a virtue I also struggle with, but I do actually enjoy hand stitching. (Although adequate lighting in the evening is also a struggle.)
Yes, grandchildren are a joy! My husband runs Camp PAPAdopolis, which has sadly ended in the northern hemisphere. But I was able to feed the littles pizza and extra large ice creams last night – and then send them home. 😱
Oh I love the idea of Camp papadopolis! So wonderful. Grandchildren are the biggest joy, and my granddaughters absolutely melt my heart.
There is so much joy in this post! I was not aware of this style of quilting so thank you for that. That your husband immediately put this on the bed made me laugh and smile. What a wonderful thing. And then to top it off with the grandchild. Your life is full and you make the most of it. And your grandchild will absolutely cherish it. Jean
Thank you, I hope to have more grandchildren and hope they fight over the quilt! It is actually wonderful on the bed and we are constantly admiring it – him because he thinks it’s beautiful, and me because I can’t believe I did all that handsewing!
I think your quilt is beautiful and a wonderful use of scraps. It looks great on your bed. Should match just about any decor!
Kelly
Thank you so much Kelly, it’s a bit gaudy, but we both love it and that’s all that matters!
Hi Sue
I like this quilt a lot, it has something soothing and cosy .I just could grab it and put it on my bed too.
Thanks for the picture of the lovely little one.
Night time greetings from Europe. Jeannine
Hi Jeannine, thank you so much for the lovely comment. It is a very comforting quilt and will be the perfect weight for summer. Our Little E is nearly one!
What a beautiful quilt! And what an achievement to hand sew something so large! It’s such a great use of your scraps and makes a lovely colourful quilt.
Thank you Sarah. I’m really missing doing it, so might have to make another one!
Amazing Sue, I have recently discovered this technique and thought it would be doable. I’m not much of a quilter and liked the idea of radomness and less rules than with regular quilting.
I think that you have done a marvellous job. Also the lady I saw making these used any random shape, that’s what appealed to me.
Thank you. I’m not a quilter either, and loved the idea of not having to place particular colours. It’s a great scrap buster and can be done anywhere. You should definitely try it.
Your quilt is lovely. The very first square grabbed my heart and won’t let go. Your scraps are gorgeous.
Oh you are so kind, you’ve made my day.
Oops, that comment got away from me before I had finished. I especially liked your comment about not cutting the scraps any smaller – very good advice for me.
*Congratulations on your massive achievement.
*Your husband is clearly a keeper and blessed with excellent taste!
*Nonsense about not being able to create a pleasing layout! The whole quilt is delightful, charming, and endlessly explorable. Unlimited granny hugs available!
Two questions if you’d be so kind – did you do the quilting as you added pieces to the individual squares, or not until the whole square was done? And how do you tuck the next piece UNDER the previous piece, which is already stitched down?
Thanks.
thank you so very much, I really enjoy the quilt. To answer your questions: Kawandi is a style of quilt where you stitch in concentric squares. So you start stitching on the pieces from the outside, tucking under the edges as you go, adding the next piece as you go. I tend to pin all the pieces on, then stitch them going from outside to inside in an ever decreasing square. I do get stabbed by pins – a lot! The second piece goes over the top of the previous piece’s edge, which isn’t tucked under, but the one on top is. I make the overlap at least 1cm, and don’t fold under selvedge edges, only the fraying ones. Does that make sense? There is bound to be a youtube tutorial on it.