chennai there are a thousand ways you can interpret carl sagans pale blue dot it is largely an introspection meant to make light of our differences and conflicts on earth against the larger scheme of things but it could as much evoke feelings of isolation awe insignificance or urgent responsibility to make the world a better place when varsha sundararajan of quilt india foundation and tina katwal of the square inch quilting studio opened up a theme called our lonely planet to quilting artists across india uae and oman this collage of eclectic perspectives resulted in 32 unique pieces of fabric art that will be displayed in an exhibition at sri sankara hall alwarpet from january 20 to 23 we announced the challenge in october last year we call it a challenge because we fixed the theme and also a set palette of colours and fabrics to work with and the quilts were submitted on december 31 2022 says varsha sundararajan one of the founders of quilt india foundation this has pushed the boundaries for artists some of them interpret the planet as their mother or a sacred space inside their heads and others are compelled to look at the problems brought about by man and the solutions that could help heal it western classical keyboard teacher and city quilter yulaume thangaraj has been sewing for 25 years and quilting for eight she calls herself a practical quilter or one who creates quilts including memory quilts not as an artwork but for functionalitybut the our lonely planet challenge had her thinking about all the things earth meant to her its so full of fascinating phenomenon and yet it is the one home for a people so divided says yulaume so i envisioned it like a round web connecting all of us bengaluru visual artist and the sole man participating in the challenge ns shreyas says he is proud to be a part of the quilting challenge as a male contestant and an artist our lonely planet will be open at 430pm on friday