Today is Epiphany, or as it's better known in New Orleans - Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night marks the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, reminding us of the visit of the Magi to the Infant Jesus. Twelfth Night in New Orleans has additional meaning - it marks the beginning of Carnival Season!
Carnival Season is celebrated with all types of festivities, from neighborhood crawfish boils to formal balls and city-wide parades. Carnival Season culminates with one big day of merriment on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) - the day before the season of fasting and penance known as Lent.
Two of my favorite Carnival traditions are related to Twelfth Night: Phunny Phorty Phellows and King Cake. The
Phunny Phorty Phellows are a group of Carnival enthusiasts who celebrate Twelfth Night by masking (costuming) and riding the St. Charles streetcar to usher in the season.
King Cake is a cinnamon-y pastry decorated with colored sugar in the Carnival colors of purple, green and gold. A small, plastic baby is traditionally baked into the King Cake and provides a surprise for whoever receives the slice. The King Cake baby recipient is either designated the king or queen of a Carnival ball, or at the very least has to supply a king cake for the next gathering of friends!
So what does all this have to do with quilting? Not much really - only that I had a King Cake-fueled afternoon of sewing and have a finished Rainbow Scrap Challenge project to show for it!
I finally finished assembling the Granny Squares I made during the 2012 Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I had to remake several of the grannies as they just didn't fit right. Then I decided the blocks and sashing alone did not make an adequately-sized quilt. I added additional borders and I'm happy as can be with the result. The picture doesn't do it justice (it's rainy and dreary here, so no chance of natural lighting), so just to help you visualize I also snapped a pic of the border and sashing fabric - confetti!
It's off to my local longarm quilter for some overall swirly quilting. This will be gifted to a family member I will be visiting in February, so I now I have a deadline for finishing!
