Friends With Benefits

Yesterday was a get together with a group of my quilting friends. We were all excited to hear about Terry's trip to India. She went to an Indian wedding and had teased us with some photos in her e-mails. I couldn't wait to hear about the rest of the trip. She started with Show & Tell with all the beautiful silk shawls and a real pashmina scarf. Then she showed us the Indian clothing that the wedding couple had custom made for them to wear. (I wish I had thought to take photos, but I was too dazzled by it all.)
The photos that followed were just amazing, including one of Terry and her husband on a painted elephant. We had the added delight that Sujata of The Root Connection is one of our gang.  Being from India, she definitely added some commentary and explanations that were so enlightening.

Our group has a tradition of gift giving during a  nice holiday lunch after our guild meeting in December. If time allows, we try to make a handmade gift -sometimes edible. Terry had dropped some hints that her holiday gift this year was from India. I thought she brought us back a bit of silk or some type of Indian fabric. I was speechless when she gave each of us in our favorite colors (of course mine was blue), this:

And here are some close-ups:

Here are a couple more. Each of them are made from bits and pieces of saris. Can you see the yokes?

The embroidery is gorgeous. Every time you looked, there was another wonderful design.