Quilts from Western India

       Permaben Maheshwari Dangera, Nani Khakhar, Kutch , Gujaret, India

collected by Patricia Stoddard and Martha Wallace
for the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska

Permaben's quilts are improvisations on traditional styles.  This quilt is named Laheria (waves) which is the name of a tie dye motif for men's turbans but instead of the dye method, Permaben used thin pieces of cloth to make the zig zag motifs.

Permaben Maheshwari Dangera from Nani Khakhar, Kutch, Gujaret. 
Collected in India by Patricia stoddard and martha wallace
for the International quilt study Center and museum, Lincoln nebraska

In this mustard yellow quilt we again see Permaben'soriginal style.  There are no repeating patterns.   "The people in the village made fun of me" she told the researchers from the International Quilt Museum.

In this post are a few of the godhari (quilts) in the collection of quilts from Western India now on display at the International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln Nebraska USA.  For more, please visit this online link.   I am quite excited by these textiles.  As I am not able to visit the exhibition in person, it is wonderful that the internet allows us an opportunity to see the quilts. 

The next 4 square-shaped quilts are all made by members of the fortune teller group (joshi).  The one above was found near Pune, India by collector, Geeta Khandelwal.

The above godhari was found near Baramati,  also by Geeta.  At the link you can read about her time in these villages, and how eager the women were to show her their work.

The one above was found near Pune, also made by a member of the fortune telling group and collected by Geeta Khandewal.

This black one is from Wai, a village near the resort town of Mahabelshwar Maharashtra, another collected by Geeta.  The base fabric is a rarely worn black sari onto which the artist patched strips of colour radiating out from a face to represent the sun.

Siddi women's Quilting co-op member, Mibjam Bausabi, Uttar Kannad, Kamataka

The Siddi are an ethnic group descended from East African people who came as slaves to India in the  16th Century.  The women have made quilts for generations.

Iramma Kademari (1915 - 2010)  a bed quilt, made in Kumati Bijapur

The maker of the above quilt, Iramma, lived with 50 other family members all under one roof.  Over her lifetime she made more than 200 quilts from recycled clothing and bits of fabric.

These quilts are full of heart.  They are authentic expressions of enjoyment and love.
They make me happy.