Dakinis

On the spur of the moment I made this wall quilt/pillow cover for Ruth. A couple of months ago she sent me a panel of prints with Buddha and Tara and dakini figures. I did not like the colors very much and thought the style of the designer was irritatingly saccharine. But I don't look a gift horse in the mouth and decided I could find a use for the panel. About a month ago I made two such wall hangings/pillow covers with Green Taras, and I forgot to take photos before I sent them to the people they were made for.

[I am calling them wall hanging/pillow covers because I completed the small quilt, with embellishments and a light muslin backing, then I added another backing, sewing it on pillowcase style making a folded kind of open pleat in the middle of the back so that a pillow form can be inserted if the owner wishes. If not it can be used as wall hanging .. or whatever.]

Since I owed Ruth a letter I decided yesterday to use another figure -- I think this is a dakini although it might be another Tara. There is no "Pink Tara" as far as I know. So I got busy and made it. Doing these is a very nice way to use some of my sizable collection of metallic fabrics. I also use some of my small collection of beads. Ruth is a wonderful spunky woman who I met in 1996 on my second trip to Tibet. We acclimated a couple of days in 6,000 foot high Kathmandu but the arrival the third day in 12,500 foot high Lhasa hit her with a bad altitude sickness. We had oxygen pillows in our room and she gulped oxygen but the headaches, chills, and other symptoms lasted for three days. I felt fine but very sorry for the woman I had just met. She never whined or moaned or wished she hadn't come -- it was her trip of a lifetime. She recovered and enjoyed the rest of the trip. We stayed in touch. When her husband on many, many years died she picked up and moved from L.A. to a small town in New Mexico where she knew only one person. She has made a place for herself, made many friends and has a contented life. She was a big inspiration to me when I decided to move out of NYC and come to Cape Cod. Obviously we maintain our interest in things Buddhist.