Udaipur - City of Lakes

In 1568 again when Mughal emperor Akbar captured Chittor (story from my previous post - for the third and last time, the rajput men fought bravely rushing out of the fort walls charging the enemy but lost this time too) Udai Singh left the fort and founded Udaipur.

Udaipur is known as the City of Lakes and the beauty of numerous palaces around the lake seem to be enhanced especially when the lakes are full after a good monsoon season.

Lake Palace (now a hotel), is very captivating and romantic to look at. I have seen couples having a dinner in the middle of the lake on a floating platform with food/drink being ferried from the hotel. Very fancy! The palace served as a royal summer palace to escape the heat.

Parrot resting on a tree at sunset with hills and lake palace in the background:
City Palace complex, huge and overlooking the lake is stunning when lit at night.
Kitchen utensils from that era:
Mirrors and inlaid glass lattice work:
View of the lake from the terrace of the City Palace:
City Palace in the background and Lake Palace in the foreground:
Monsoon Palace, served as a resort and observatory to the royalty, at 3100 feet, the views are distant and stunning. I kick myself everytime I see this picture because I did not pay attention and the right window got chopped. Otherwise, it would have been a perfect picture. Jag Mandir Palace, another lake palace where Shahjahan (who built Taj Mahal) took refuge here as he rebelled against his father Jahangir to become a hier to the Mughal kingdom.
We came across this vibrant and colorful folk art in a crafts village:
The Mahout took naps all of afternoon on this female elephant which is named Raju (meaning king?!). We fed her few bananas:
Hope you are all having a crisp and lovely fall weekend. Have fun.

Freda's flowers

Working with Nanette’s newest pattern Freda’s flowers has been like revisiting spring… so fresh, bright and happy! …every possible square-inch filled with oodles of cuteness that we’ve come to relate with Nanette’s creations. I had so much fun choosing fabrics and piecing these adorable tulips for the baby quilt.

With chain-piecing, there were fewer stops and it came together in a couple of afternoons.

Detailed instructions and pictures were given for a large quilt and a baby quilt although it can be easily adapted to any size. And the fun part is, it is Jelly-roll friendly and would make a cute version with scraps too. I used mostly fat-quarters and it took out only a sliver of each one.

I like the idea of these pretty flowers sitting in a window box cheering passersby. So, I added this stripe with tiny scalloped edge underneath the tulips.

Nanette named this quilt in honor of her dear mom... it's been a pleasure to make this cheerful little quilt. Thank you so much, Nanette!!!

~ Strawberries on white is Minny muu by Lecien.
~ Border fabric is from Denyse Schmidt’s Country fair collection.

Have a great weekend, friends (: v :)