Ajrakh Prints

Now that we are settled in in Vermont, I can finally start sharing some of the things I brought back from India. Ajrakh printing is a type of block printing done in Kutch and the neighboring community of Sindh, Pakistan. Rather than printing with dyes like other types of block printing, they print with resists and then do an immersion dye, meaning that once it is dipped in dye the area that was block printed will remain white. This is a much more labor-intensive method of block printing, but the results are incredible, with such deep colors and intricate designs.

Ajrak is traditionally done with natural dyes, meaning there is a limited color palette of blue, red, purple, black, yellow and green. The photos above are of a few antique printing blocks I bought in Kutch. The square geometric designs are the traditional Ajrakh patterns, and the rectangular floral block could have come from a different area or been influenced by outside designs.

While we were in Kutch, I worked with a local Ajrakh printer to have some of my designs printed with natural dyes, which is a project I am so excited about! They are still in the process of being printed now, but the finished pieces will be ready by the end of May. I can't wait to see how they turned out, and to share them here. Below are a few patterns I picked up along the way, including a few by the printer I worked with to print my designs:

Back in the Studio

Yesterday was my first day in the studio in over three months, and also the most productive day I have ever had. The reason: no internet. We are living at my parents' house in Vermont for the summer while I get ready for the Stationery Show, so that we can have some time to work and save money before looking for a new place to live. I'm using a spare bedroom as my studio, and while most of the house has internet, this room does not.

I would have days in DC when I would try not to use the internet, but I still had my phone and would occasionally check email or Facebook. There is no cell service here, so I spent the entire day yesterday working with no distractions. It was incredible. In one day, I finished a big order that came in last week, half of the new designs for the Stationery Show, started working on my new business cards, and still had time to go for a walk after lunch.

While we were in India, I made a lot of sketches and took a lot of photos (so many that my hard drive is full and my computer is now going at a snail's pace) but I didn't do any complete designs. So yesterday I went through all those sketches and photos and got my actual designs down on paper.

At this rate, I'll have hundreds of new designs to share in the next month.

Around Kutch

A few more pictures from daily life in Kutch, including a trip to a weaver's village, bells made from recycled car parts, traditional mirror-work on the walls of a hut, block printing, and some Kutch architecture:

We're Back

Goodbye India, Hello USA! We're back after three months on the road and it was so sad to say goodbye to the friends we made (and the textiles), but it feels good to eat salad and have more clothes to choose from than two old kurtas. For the next two weeks we'll be traveling around the East Coast, catching up with friends and family and collecting our stuff which was squirreled away in different places before we left.

I have lots more to share from India though, and I'm also gearing up for the National Stationery Show in May, so there are lots of good posts coming.

The photo above is of a shepherd's daughter in Northern Kutch, taken on our road trip of the villages last month.

Documentation

This was how we have spent our time for the last month: photographing, measuring and documenting 400 textile pieces on a borrowed hotel bed sheet. Below are examples of block printing, Banjara embroidery, Phulkari embroidery, plus the daily visit from the vegetable cart and lots of measuring and rearranging.

Applique Practice

After all the amazing applique we've seen over the last month, I decided that the only way to appreciate it was to try it myself.

Applique we saw in Kutch was used on all sorts of textiles, from hangings to camel covers to quilts. The quilts are handmade by the women of the house and decorated with applique and embroidery. The same techniques are used today and we saw lots of women in the villages working on pieces for personal use, but people are now using synthetic fabrics and chemical dyes rather than the natural dyes and cottons we saw in old pieces.

Here's a look at some of the applique we saw while documenting the textile collection:

I decided to try a few of the techniques myself. A lot of the designs are made by cutting fabric like a snowflake, folding in quarters and snipping it in different patterns. I started with some simpler shapes: squares, triangles, and a cut border. It was slow going, even for something so simple, and made me appreciate how many thousands of hours were put into each quilt we saw. This was just a test piece, but I'm planning on starting a mini quilt with applique this summer.