Will Work for Textiles

What have we actually been doing for the last month, you ask? Since we got to Kutch, we've been working on documenting the collection of a local textile expert, cataloging the age and origin of each piece and photographing each one. The collection has over 1500 pieces, and we just hit the 400 mark.

We started this when our friend Salim mentioned that they needed someone to catalog the collection, but never had the time or equipment to do it. Wanting to stay in Bhuj, and traveling with cameras and computers, we immediately volunteered and have been spending our days photographing since.

Because the pieces are part of a private collection, I won't be sharing the photos here, but I've been taking a few close-ups to document the techniques. Below is block printing, kantha stitch, Parsi embroidery, more kantha, running stitches, mochi embroidery, zari embroidery, kalimkari, and more kantha stitches.

More Ralli Quilts

I stumbled across another updated version of Ralli quilts this weekend, from LA-based designer Heidi Merrick. Her combination of modern prints with traditional embroidery is so beautiful I almost emptied my bank account and bought them all immediately when I clicked on her website. The green one is definitely going on my future wish-list.

According to her website, all her pieces are made in the US. That means she isn't outsourcing the production of all those tiny embroidery stitches, which makes the $249 price tag seem incredibly reasonable. As someone who is maybe 1/100th of the way through embroidering a ralli quilt, I can understand just how much time it takes to get that effect. Yes, I think I'll take them all.

Images courtesy of Heidi Merrick, found via Fibercopia