Cotton and textiles found while traveling in India, including natural block prints on silk, fabric shopping bags, a pillowcase, a teabag, and scraps of cotton thread

Hand pieced, hand appliquéd, hand embroidered, and hand quilted

2020

84 x 86”

In the fall of 2019, I traveled to India. It was a trip that I'd been longing to make for the last 6 years, and I traveled with a group led by my friend and yoga teacher Indu Arora- the red Yogsadhna bags from her business are easily seen in the quilt. I brought a large expanse of white fabric with me, along with some small gifted packets of fabric from my WMQFA friends Takako Willden and Ashley Brooks. Beginning in the top left corner, I strategically appliqued the fabric while on the airplane, under a mosquito net, and anywhere else I had a spare moment while traveling. I continued to find additional fabrics while I traveled, many of them remnants. A free calendar insert, scraps from a visit to the saree mending studio of Queen of Hearts India, shopping bags, and even a cotton teabag. Upon returning home, I had more space to lay out mementos, and to dig through my closets, finding cloth tidbits that had initially inspired my desire for the trip.

I quilted everything in March of 2020, and titled the piece mindfully. I learned the yogic concept of acknowledging the inhale, pause to transition, exhale, and pause from Indu. I'd embroidered the lungs in the center of the quilt because the air pollution in India stung my lungs for 5 weeks after I returned home. But mostly, I felt an incredible contraction of my personal space bubble when in India, and then felt a sudden and unexpected expansion of my personal space bubble while quilting in quarantine. I felt that my lungs were a microcosm for this time in my life. I'm grateful to have this quilt as a document of an eye opening and magical experience of travel.

Exhibitions: Shift Change, Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Museum, La Conner, WA (2024)
QuiltCon presented by the Modern Quilt Guild, Atlanta, GA (2023)
Heidi Parkes’s Quilts, special exhibit at The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show, Madison, WI (2022)
Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, Sisters, OR (2022)
Remnants, Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts, Cedarburg, WI (2021)

*Shipping may take up to 2 weeks

*Shipping within the United States is included in the purchase price. To make an international purchase, contact Heidi at HeidiParkesArt@gmail.com