In our village, we have a village hall. Originally built as the parochial school in 1813, it is a sturdy stone building with the main hall and kitchen on the ground floor (don't you just love a village hall kitchen?), and a smaller room upstairs, originally the teacher's lodgings.
It is run by a group of volunteers who formed a Trust to take over the hall some years ago when it was threatened with closure, and is an asset to our village, and community. It is used by the scouts, the SWRI, the badminton club, the Zumba class, the Local History society, and various other committees and groups.
One such group is the Beginners' Yoga class, where a group of village ladies spend an hour stretching, bending, contorting and perspiring every Thursday evening from 7.15 to 8.30. I have attended this class since last year, and just love every minute. However my favourite part of the evening is when our gentle teacher invites us to put on something warm and lie down for Savasana, or Dead Man's Pose. This is the well-earned relaxation at the end of the yoga class, and is quite delightful.
My mind drifts off in all sorts of directions during Savasana, and I let it float freely, enjoying the scenes and memories this 'conscious relaxation' seems to bring forth. Often these scenes involve water, I have a sense of flying over the ocean, as if I were a seagull. I can almost feel the wind, and smell the water. Although in everyday life I am frightened of deep water, I find this sensation very relaxing when experienced during yoga.
Some people put on socks and a sweatshirt for Savasana, some cover themselves with a fleecy blanket. Initially I covered myself with a cosy blue checked blanket which originally belonged to Jacob's room when he was a little boy. It is large, and soft, and warm. However after several months of yoga class I decided it would be very nice to have a quilt for yoga class instead.
I wanted the quilt to approximate the ocean, starting at the bottom with deep sea creatures, then meander via smaller shoals of fish, wading sea birds and crabs towards the shore, as it appeared in my imagination, i.e. the top of the quilt.
(Here is Isaac, kindly holding up my quilt in the back garden for photography purposes)
I gathered fabrics I liked over a couple of m0nths, searching on line and in my local sewing shop. I wanted the quilt to be simple in construction, and decided on horizontal stripes of differing widths. Once these were joined, I added a broad border all the way round (I wanted it to be large enough to avoid draughts seeping underneath at yoga class). The backing is pieced from left overs, and I rather like it.
I marked out horizontal and vertical wavy lines with quilter's tape, and used the lines as my guide, hand quilting with perle cotton in navy, and white. I imagined the horizontal stitched lines to be the water waves, washing towards the shore, and the vertical stitched lines to be sonar waves, reaching right down to the deepest ocean.
Of course, it is not perfect, but that's ok. I really like this quilt, and I'm not sure why, it is almost my favourite of those I have made so far. It was easy and quick to make, and I find the regular rows of fish and whales, crabs and seabirds soothing, as they march (or swim) solemnly across the quilt.
Having used it for several weeks at yoga class, I am also pleased to report that it is very comfortable, cosy and perfect for Savasana. My mind seems to have moved on from water to snow-scapes now, so perhaps my next quilt will be inspired by snow; watch this (quilt shaped) space!
