Tie Dyes and Plaids

Four more textiles for day four!

All of the textiles are old or antique, meaning they are valuable but could also have small stains, discolorations or holes from years of use. None of these take away from the aesthetic of the piece however, and in many cases it adds to it as you can see that the piece has been used for years. 

There will be a flat shipping fee of $7, even if you purchase more than one piece on different days. So feel free to order more than once and not worry about extra shipping charges. And now, on to the textiles: 

Piece #11 is a ralli from Kutch made of plum-colored tie dye fabric with a black, yellow and red border. The whole piece is hand stitched and quilted with white thread. This piece uses older fabrics that are stitched together to form a quilt, and the finished piece is around 30 years old. It measures 72" x 49".

SOLD

Piece #12 is a Bengali kantha made from recycled saris, and is unusual because of the diamond-patterned stitching. The back is green, and the front uses pieces of pink, green and purple fabric, as well as patches of other bright colors, as a back for the intricate embroidery. This piece measures 84" x 52".

SOLD

Piece #13 is a Bengali kantha quilt using green, navy and orange recycled sari fabric. It is quilted with white thread and measures 86" x 50".

SOLD

Piece #14 is a Bengali kantha in oranges and reds, that uses a large piece of cotton with brocade (the yellow and red shapes you see below are woven into the fabric) and also has unusual diamond embroidery. This piece uses black thread rather than white for the quilting, and is unusual because of the mix of fabrics and the intricate embroidery work. Measures 92" x 66" (this is the largest of the kanthas).

SOLD

 

Piece #15 is another unusual Bengali kantha, made entirely of different brightly colored striped and plaid fabrics. This quilt is thicker than the other kanthas with more lining material, and has smaller quilting stitches holding the extra fabric together. The choice of fabrics on this piece was excellent, with the different geometric stripes and plaids complementing each other and working with the stitching. This piece measures 70" x 52".

SOLD

Make sure to check back tomorrow at 9 am for one more round of textiles!

Read More

Big Sale Today!

I'm having a sale on Fab today! If you aren't a member already, Fab is a great site that hosts sales for different artists and design companies every day; it's a great place to find well-designed home goods and discounts on great products.

 Today they are hosting my prints (at a big discount), so sign up at Fab.com to see!

Read More

Mustards, greens and, pinks

Day three, and I have three more beautiful textiles to show you today!  

All of the textiles are old or antique, meaning they are valuable but could also have small stains, discolorations or holes from years of use. None of these take away from the aesthetic of the piece however, and in many cases it adds to it as you can see that the piece has been used for years. 

There will be a flat shipping fee of $7, even if you purchase more than one piece on different days. So feel free to order more than once and not worry about extra shipping charges. And now, on to the textiles: 

Piece #8 is an appliqued ralli quilt from Sindh, Pakistan and was made by the Sumra community. It has a very unusual, modern style, even though it's around 50 years old. It shows the forward thinking of the woman who made it! This quilt probably uses a mix of natural and chemical dyes (it can be hard to tell sometimes what is a natural dye and what is an expert replica), with natural yellows, oranges, greens and some of the black colors using natural dyes. The electric pink applique in the middle is definitely chemical, as no plant can make a neon fuchsia dye.

The back of this quilt is made of over-dyed recycled lungis, so is completely plaid. 

This is one of my favorite pieces we brought back, I love how unique it is compared to the other traditional quilts we saw, despite the age of the piece. This quilt measures 80" x 50".

Email hello@katharinewatson.com to buy.

Piece #9 is another Bengali kantha made of recycled saris, with a pink and green color palette. It is quilted with white thread and measures 84" x 50".

Email hello@katharinewatson.com to buy.

Piece #10 is another Bengali kantha made with recycled saris, and also has a pink and green color palette with highlights of purple. This piece is quilted with white thread and measures 84" x 52".

Email hello@katharinewatson.com to buy.

Make sure to check back again tomorrow morning at 9 am for more quilts! There are only two days worth of textiles left, and I saved a few of the best for last, so don't miss it!

Read More

Rallis and Kanthas

Round two of the textiles! Today we have two Saami rallis and two Bengali kanthas, and all four quilts are completely stitched by hand.

All of the textiles are old or antique, meaning they are valuable but could also have small stains, discolorations or holes from years of use. None of these take away from the aesthetic of the piece however, and in many cases it adds to it as you can see that the piece has been used for years. 

There will be a flat shipping fee of $7, even if you purchase more than one piece on different days. So feel free to order more than once and not worry about extra shipping charges. And now, on to the textiles:  

Piece #4 is a Saami ralli from Sindh, Pakistan. It was made by the Saami snake charmer community of Sindh, and this style of embroidery is unique to this group. Saami quilts use a solid background (usually black or grey, but occasionally bright colors like red or purple) with intricate colored embroidery to quilt layers of scrap fabric together. The quilts are made with scraps of fabric to make both the cover and the filling, and are decorated with geometric embroidery.

This particular quilt is a blue-grey with a black stripe along the edge and has bright geometric embroidery in a range of colors, and the back of the quilt is off-white, as seen with Piece #5. This is an old piece at around 60 years old, and measures 84" x 58".

Email hello@katharinewatson.com to buy.

Piece #5 is another Saami ralli quilt from Sindh, Pakistan, also made by the Saami snake charmer community. This piece has a black background with brightly colored embroidery, and is made of scrap fabric quilted together with bright thread.

This piece is also around 60 years old, and measures 80" x 58".

Email hello@katharinewatson.com to buy.

Piece #6 is a Bengali kantha that has red printed fabric on one side and blue and orange tie-dye on the other. These quilts are made from recycled saris, and this piece is quilted with white thread. The quilt measures 84" x 60".

Email hello@katharinewatson.com to buy.

Piece #7 is the same style of Bengali kantha, with green printed fabric on one side and blue and pink tie-dye fabric on the other, as well as several patches of printed cotton. It is quilted with white thread and measures 84" x 58".

SOLD

Make sure to check back again tomorrow morning, when three more quilts will be posted at 9 am!

Read More

Three Quilts

Here it is, round one of the textiles! I've been so excited to share what we found since we first got to India. Each piece is one of a kind, and all are entirely made by hand. For more information or to buy, email hello@katharinewatson.com.

With the exception of the second piece I am posting today, all of the textiles are old or antique, meaning they are valuable but could also have small stains, discolorations or holes from years of use. None of these take away from the aesthetic of the piece however, and in many cases it adds to it as you can see that the piece has been used for years. 

There will be a flat shipping fee of $7, even if you purchase more than one piece on different days. So feel free to order more than once and not worry about extra shipping charges. And now, on to the textiles: 

Piece #1 is a ralli quilt from Sindh, Pakistan which neighbors Kutch. It is entirely hand-stitched and around 60 years old. The quilt uses a mix of natural and chemical dyes, dating it to when natural dyes were still affordable for people in villages. This quilt would have been made by a woman to celebrate a wedding, and is a rare piece as quilts of this style are no longer made with natural dyes and cotton. The piece has a quilted center and sawtooth applique on the edges, with small tassels on each corner. Rallis like this one are quilted with layers of fabric, so the quilt has a heavier weight, and is in excellent condition with no noticeable stains or holes, which is rare for a quilt of this age.
Measures 76" x 45".

email hello@katharinewatson.com to buy!

Piece #2 uses the same color palette, but is a brand new quilt. Made in Jaipur, it is the only piece that was made for a modern bed, so fits perfectly on a queen or king-sized bed and measures 99" x 88". This piece was handmade in Jaipur with stonewashed cotton, and uses the same applique and running stitches as traditional ralli quilts. This is an excellent piece if you are looking for a functional bedcover that still has the style of a traditional quilt.

SOLD

Piece #3 is a Bengali kantha made from old saris and lungis (plaid fabric traditionally worn by men). This quilt uses different shades of green, with diamond-patterned running stitches in white thread, and measures 78" x 50". These quilts are traditionally made by women and are entirely stitched by hand, combining layers of old fabric to make a functional quilt with a gorgeous color palette.

SOLD

This is just the first three, there will be more tomorrow morning at 9 am, so make sure to check back then!

All photos (c) 2012 Katharine Watson

Read More

Textile Inspiration

I've been seeing a lot of beautiful textiles showing up on Pinterest lately, so before I start listing the textiles for sale tomorrow, I thought I'd give you a little weekend textile inspiration. I love the way each of these rooms mixes old textile pieces with new furnishings, and I plan on layering some of my pieces from India like they've done in the photos below. Also, Photo 2 and Photo 4 both use ralli quilts from Kutch, which you can tell from the geometric design, the color palette and the sawtooth applique around the edges. There will be a few of these coming up for sale this week, so make sure to check back starting tomorrow!

Wish Flowers

Masika Wa

Crochet

The Brick House

Sterling Style

Fuji Files

Read More

The Quilts are Here!

So we are back, finally settled in, and that means...it's time to share the textiles! Starting Monday, I will be posting a few pieces for sale each day at 9am EST. They are all one of a kind and there are a limited number, so make sure to check at 9am to see them all! Most are for sale, but I will also be sharing a few that aren't. And it's not just quilts, there are scarves, block prints and more small textile pieces available.

They will all be available through PayPal, so if you are interested but don't have an account, make sure you sign up! I will be adding all of the textiles to my online shop at a later date, but I wanted to give you blog readers the first chance to see them.

See you here Monday at 9am!

Read More