Quilts

There are quilts and there are quilts.

Thick warm cuddly quilts.

Soft, cozy cuddly quilts.

Quilted memories captured in bits of familiar  clothes.

Or stunningly patterned pieces joined with care and love.

Flat, simple, basic quilts.

There are quilts and quilts and quilts

Whatever the quilt, its basic function is to keep you warm and cozy so that you get an uninterrupted night’s sleep. A restful sleep that leaves you fresh to seize yet another day.

The Indian quilt

The Indian quilt , more often than not is a simple, basic quilt. It’s sole purpose is to just cover you up .

Layers of cloth ( generally old saris) are laid flat and then quilted into place with a rough thread in running stitch. These ‘godhadi’ ( as I know them) are an  essential part of a baby’s traditional layette. And later on, the quilt gets bigger to keep you covered as you sleep.

Since these quilts aren’t made of a stuffing or filling, they can be washed every other day! There is no fear of them not drying nor would it get bunched up and lumpy.

How to make a Simple Indian Granny quilt.

I remember seeing my granny assemble a quilt. Remember she used to wear a 9 yard sari so she had 3 more yards to play around with. Any ways, she would fold the sari adjusting the number of folds to get the required length of the quilt. The breadth remained constant. Since 9 yard saris are wider than the 6 yard ones, it also meant that the quilt was larger than the one you could make with a 6 yard sari.

Well, after adjusting the size of the quilt, she would then add more saris to make the quilt thicker.

Once she was satisfied with the thickness, she would take a fat long needle with a thick thread and hold the layers together with a running stitch. Following the shape of the cloth in straight parallel lines, she would stitch and stitch till the entire piece was quilted. And that was it. Without making  complicated patterns  with the running stitch.

Funnily enough, this simple quilt, despite many washes would still hold her warm, granny smell. So that when we cuddled up in our beds, we could feel her presence comforting us.

Other quilts too!

In the Northern parts of India where the Winter still chills to the bone, the quilts are much heavier and elaborate. ‘Razai’s’ or ‘Dulai’s’ are fat, bulky and terribly warm. They are stuffed with cotton and covered with velvet covers. On top of the quilt ( at least in our home) we had another thin muslin cover that could be washed.

I  love these Jaipur quilts that I dunk into the washing machine after the Winter months are over. Then I leave them out to dry in the sun, soaking up the warmth to keep us comfortable when the cold winds blow again.

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