Ralli Quilts: Customer Photos and Newly Listed!

If you follow this blog, you will know that I carry ralli quilts in my Etsy shop.  I fell in love with them a couple of years ago and have been buying them whenever I can.  As a quilter, I appreciate all the work that goes into them.  I also really like textiles that have an organic, handmade feel to them.  I like mistakes, repairs that don't match, stitches that are crooked, imperfections in dyes...  That doesn't mean that I like sloppy work.  No.  But, many of the tribal or village crafts that I am drawn to have a bold, rough finish to them that tells me a story of a way of life.

So, the other day, a ralli quilt sold in my Etsy store.  I didn't realize that it was the last one I had in stock.  Here is a photo:

 Ralli quilt that sold on Etsy.

One of the things that fascinate me about the rallis is that they do not use any patterns.  They are handed down from mother to daughter.  The quilts are stitched completely by hand and some patterns become popular in a certain village so that experts can take one look and know where they come from.  Several people might work on stitching the blocks and then when it comes time to quilt it, it becomes a quilting bee, with many women helping it go quickly.  I can just see them all sitting in a circle, chatting away about local gossip.

My customer was kind enough to send me some images of how the quilt looked in her home.  How fun it is to see a "product" become a part of an environment!

 Ralli quilt used as a table cloth.

Doesn't it just look great in her home?  I never would have thought to use it on a table like that, but love the effect!  The white walls work perfectly with the quilt.  And, notice how the grey works so well with the light green in the other room.

The effect is both joyful and serene.  Truly lovely!  I really appreciate her sending me the images.  It's a nice way to show how these quilts can be incorporated into contemporary homes.  If you have bought things from my shop in the past and would like to send me some images, I would be happy to post about them, too!

So, that sale meant that I had to get busy and take some more photos and get more rallis back into the shop.  I just got several listed last night.  Click here to see what is currently in stock.  Two of the best quilts I have ever bought are in this new batch:

 Vintage ralli quilt with applique.

Both are done with cutwork applique blocks, much harder to find than the more simple pieced ones.  These are both kind of pricey, around $350, but they are gorgeous and estimated to be from the 1950's.  I also listed less expensive ones, ranging from $42-$160.  

Jump on the ralli wagon and get one for yourself!  They will cast a warm spot on your bed, couch, wall, or table!

For more ralli quilt posts on this blog, click here.

Ralli Quilts: Customer Photos and Newly Listed!

Six New Ralli Quilts on Etsy!

Ralli with an unusual black background.

If you have been following this blog for awhile, you will know that I really love ralli quilts! Partly, I suppose, it is because I, too, make quilts so I can appreciate all the time and effort that goes into them. But, I think that what I really like is the organic quality most of these quilts have in their design. Completely hand sewn, one piece might have had several different women working on it. That might translate into inconsistencies in the stitching and even choice of fabrics used. Normally, one woman will make the top, but the quilting will be done by several women who will in turn get help in finishing their tops.

A ralli quilt with simple construction but almost Amish looking in the colors.

While many ralli quilts may have simple designs as in the one above, the color choices can be very interesting. The colors in that one remind me of Amish quilts, although the border is a signature for ralli quilts. Patterns are handed down by experience, from mother to daughter. While simplicity worked beautifully in the quilt above, the one below is an example of complex patchwork construction. Hundreds (thousands?) of tiny triangles show that the flying geese patterns are also found in Asia.

Ralli quilt with intricate flying geese pattern.

Again, the border, traditional to ralli quilts, places these geese firmly in the minds of Sindhi women. Sindhi women seem to be drawn mostly towards bright fabric colors and bold contrasts. The black fabric in the first quilt of this post is an unusual departure from the more common color palettes. The two quilts below show more common block and color choices. Both have become soft and worn with use.

Traditional ralli blocks, surrounded by the signature borders.

Bold diamonds or a large X are often preferred as a design choice for ralli quilts.

Finally, some villages specialize in cutwork applique. The quilt below is a simple example of this technique, probably made by a young girl or older woman. Appliqued designs can be exquisitely detailed and fill the whole surface of the broad cloth used as a background.

Ralli quilt with cutwork applique.

Ralli quilts are wonderful as wall textiles or draped over a bed. I have kept several for myself and am happy to share these with you!

Visit my Etsy store to see my current selection. I have written several posts in this blog about these quilts, so if you would like to learn more and see more photos, click here.




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Six New Ralli Quilts on Etsy!

Teaching Quilting in India by Donna Hussain

Main building, Nasr School
Hyderabad, India

A few years ago I received an invitation to teach quilting at Nasr School in Hyderabad, India. The invitation came from my husband’s cousin, Begum Anees Khan, the school founder. Starting with a small nursery school in the 1960's Anees slowly added students, extended the curriculum, built classrooms, and acquired property to expand the school. Today Nasr School enrolls over three thousand students from preschool through high school on five Hyderabad campuses.

Classroom building, Nasr School

Students on the way to school.
Hyderabad, India

Although I have taught quilting here in the States, I questioned my ability to teach abroad. Would familiar quilting supplies be available in India? What level of quilting should I teach? How long would I need to stay abroad to make my teaching worthwhile? Anees was at a loss for answers to such questions since she had no quilting experience herself. “Just come,” she wrote. “Once you are here we can figure out how to proceed.”

Despite my misgivings, the challenge of teaching in India was too enticing to resist. In early January 2006 my husband and I flew to Hyderabad for a seven week stay. We became part of Anees’ family living in her home on school grounds. I taught hour and a half sessions of beginning quilting twice a week to a class of 12-14 year old girls. I also taught quilting to two groups of women, mostly teachers, two afternoons a week. I had a busy social schedule as well: formal house calls to all of my husband’s relatives, dinner parties, weddings, and other family celebrations.

Morning assembly at Nasr School

Primary school students

High school girls, Nasr School

Classroom at Nasr School

Twenty-seven girls signed up for my quilting class. The sewing classroom was large, but sparsely furnished. There was a small teacher’s desk, eight “new” treadle sewing machines for my quilting classes, and benches for the students. I asked for the addition of six large tables, bulletin boards, and irons and ironing boards, a request immediately granted because of my relationship with Anees.

Quilting classroom

Students at work

Unfortunately, the “new” treadle sewing machines were a disaster, at least in my classes. Most of the girls needed instruction in their use and time to practice on the machines. Since the treadles were easily jammed with thread and inoperable most of the time, I taught them how to piece and quilt by hand.

Cranky treadle machines

I brought plastic rulers, cutting mats and rotary cutters to India in my luggage. Before my departure from home I debated whether to do so. It seemed reasonable to teach students the easiest, most accurate ways of measuring and cutting fabric. But would it be wise to teach the use of tools unavailable in the Indian market? Hyderabad is a city of seven million so I thought quilting tools might be for sale in the city if I could only find the right shop. A relative spent hours and hours driving me around the city to look for the tools with no success. Fortunately, most of the girls in my class said that they had relatives living the Middle East, England, and United States who could send them quilting supplies on request. I donated the tools I brought from home to the school on my departure.

In driving around the city I also looked for cotton or wool batting like we have in the States. None was found. However, I did find a thick polyester batting that might be used if split. In one small shop I met a quiltmaker who was doing hand quilting for a client using layers of thin rubber sheeting as batting. I used flannel for batting in the small quilts I made while in Hyderabad.

In winter months Hyderabadis like to sleep under soft full-cloth bed quilts that are filled with cotton held in place by rows of large hand-sewn stitches. The cotton is so light and fluffy that workers in shops where the cotton is sold wear masks to protect their windpipes and lungs from fuzz in the air. When dirty from use, the quilts are taken apart, the used cotton fill is discarded, and the fabric sandwich is washed. The fabric is then refilled with cotton at a shop.

Shop for cotton fill used in bed quilts.
Hyderabad, India

Once classes started, I taught the girls to measure and cut fabric, and how to sew together quilt blocks. We focused on four- and nine-patch blocks and those that included half-square triangles. The girls then practiced how to assemble a variety of quilt blocks using paper and fabric cutouts. It was my expectation that they would then choose a pattern and start making a small patchwork quilt top in class using fabric brought from home. To my disappointment few girls actually started a quilt project. Instead of learning the final steps in quiltmaking by doing, the girls watched me demonstrate how to add borders, batting, and binding, and hand-quilt with a hoop.

Members of my adult quilting class.
Hyderabad, India

My classes for adult women were much more successful. All of the women had sewing experience, and all wanted to learn as much as possible about quiltmaking before my return. While some of them wanted to make quilts for their families, most were teachers who carefully took notes in class hoping to pass on knowledge of quiltmaking to students of their own. The women didn’t want a slow-paced class that allowed time for practicing new techniques in the classroom. They preferred that I spend all of the class time introducing new material. At the next class they would bring me samples they had sewn at home to show me that they had mastered the skills that I had demonstrated in class.

My husband and I enjoyed our stay in India. On my return, however, I keep reviewing my experiences including all of the teaching mistakes I had made. I could have done better. Last Fall my spirits were bolstered by an e-mail Anees sent to me with pictures attached showing girls in Nasr School uniforms sewing patchwork blocks onto school tote bags. None were my former students…my girls must be nearing high school graduation by now. However, Nasr School’s sewing teacher was in my adult class.

Girls sewing patchwork
Hyderabad, India

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.

The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

Teaching Quilting in India by Donna Hussain

"A Day of Hope" by Donna Hussain

A Day of Hope, A Quilt on Voting and Iraqi Women
by Donna Hussain

My quilt, A Day of Hope, pays homage to the women of Iraq who walked long distances to polling stations on January 30, 2005 to vote for a Transitional National Assembly, the first step in the democratization of their country after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The women then spent hours waiting in line to cast their ballots. In spite of the danger of suicide bombings and mortar strikes to disrupt the voting, Election Day was a day of celebration for Iraqi women. They had gained the right to vote and a promise that twenty-five percent of the Assembly seats would be filled by female candidates under the electoral system of proportional representation. Women were filled with hope that the election would lead to a future of peace and stability.

Sadly, the Transitional National Assembly failed in its attempt to establish a government acceptable to all factions in Iraq. Iraqis still live with violence and chaos, their dreams of peace blown to smithereens. However, the women and their Election Day hopes should be remembered. Perhaps embers of that hope still kindle in their souls. I sewed A Day of Hope to support this hope and to honor the women for their bravery, spirit, tenacity, and endurance.

My quilt depicts the women standing in line waiting to vote at the polls. (Males had separate voting lines.) Their faces are from photographs of Election Day that were printed in the newspaper. I scanned the cutout faces into my computer, then printed them on fabric that was ironed onto the waxy side of freezer paper.

Women in Line, Detail of "A Day of Hope"

For their clothing, I draped the women in three-dimensional shawls, black abayas, and burkas. Groups of Iraqi women usually have babies in their arms or children at their sides. On Election Day, however, they left the children at home given the threat of terrorism. I had a long internal debate whether the quilt was self-explanatory or needed a sign to explain the story line to viewers. If a sign had been posted at the polls it would have been written in Arabic. For the benefit of quilt viewers I chose an English sign instead: Women, Line Up Here To Vote.

The most challenging part of making A Day of Hope was the patchwork wall mosaic behind the women. The pattern of the mosaic was drawn from a book of Islamic geometric patterns. The problem was to figure out an easy way to sew the design.

After study, I determined that the pattern consists of three quilt blocks: a solid square, a block with an X, and a connecting block.

Three quilt blocks

The basic pattern is two rows of blocks. Row 1 has alternating X blocks and connecting blocks. Row 2 has alternating solid blocks and connecting blocks. Note that the connecting blocks in Row 1 have vertical deign elements. In Row 2 the connecting blocks are turned so that the design is horizontal.

Mosaic pattern

I always try to find easy ways to sew blocks. My solution for the X block is as follows:

• Draw an X block on paper the size of your choice.
• Cut a plastic template the size of your X block drawing. Place the template over the drawing and mark the center square on the plastic.
• Sew a patchwork block with a simple cross. The center square should be the same size as the center of your template. Measure your drawn X block from corner to opposite corner (for example, six inches) Each side of your patchwork cross block needs to be that size. (six inches square).
• The final step is to lay your plastic template on the sewn cross block as illustrated. Use your rotary cutter to cut along the sides of your template.

Making the X block

After sewing together the blocks of my mosaic design I used gold trim to outline and accentuate the patchwork patterns. The trim adds to the complexity of the mosaic design, creating a pattern of its own.

Trim pattern

Quilt trim

Once the mosaic was completed, I made the arch that frames the mosaic. I drew the arch with a compass on freezer paper, then cut out the center to create an arch pattern for the quilt. (Refer to my Bismillah: The Making of an Islamic Quilt post for detailed instructions on making and using arch patterns.) Arches

Then I ironed the waxy side of the pattern onto background fabric so I could mark the shape of the arch on the fabric. Unfortunately the gold fabric I wanted to use was purchased for a previous project. There was very little left so I had to piece small leftover sections together, a task that was complicated by the vertical stripes in the gold design. I always seem to have problems like this when I quilt. I start the sewing with a rough idea, but make most sewing decisions, like color and scale, on the fly. If only I planned ahead……

To complete the quilt, I added a patchwork frame to the arch, appliquéd the women figures to the bottom of the quilt, and sewed on borders.

Quilt arch

For the quilt back I used a light tan-gold fabric that unfortunately showed my machine quilting stitches to a disadvantage. To cover my double stitching and hide thread knots I sewed little gold beads, seemingly at random, on the back. I didn’t expect to fool the judges, but thought they might not make the effort to find mistakes to criticize. To my surprise one judge wrote, “How nice to find decorative beads on the back.”

A Day of Hope has been very well received. It has been accepted in a number of juried national quilt shows, including the International Quilt Festival in Houston, the AQS show in Paducah, KY, the Pacific International show in California, and received an Honorable Mention at the National Quilt Extravaganza XIV in Harrisburg, PA.

The quilting compliment I cherish most came from my high school English teacher, now in his eighties, whose wonderful paintings have political messages. After I sent him a photo of A Day of Hope he wrote that he was so inspired that he has taken his easel out of storage and is painting again.

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.

The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

"A Day of Hope" by Donna Hussain

Interlacing Designs for Quilt Borders by Donna Hussain

Most beginning quilters focus their creative energies on the patchwork or appliqué centers of their quilts. By the time their quilt blocks are stitched and sewn together they are tired of sewing the quilt top, eager to start the quilting phase. However one last quilt-top task remains: the addition of borders. A common border solution is to frame the quilt top with four border strips of matching fabric. But does this border add visual interest and enhance the beauty of the quilt? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. If not, what other options are there?

Traveling Star of the East By Donna Quartier

I am always looking for innovative ideas for borders. At quilt shows I walk down the aisles focusing on the borders of displayed quilts to collect border ideas. My scrapbooks of quilt pictures are a helpful resource when deciding on borders for a new project. A number of years ago I started a collection of interlacing patterns that I found in Islamic and Celtic art books, planning to sew these designs with bias tubes onto the borders of my quilts. Once my interest in interlacing designs was piqued I began to notice the patterns on jewelry, fabric trims, engravings, picture frames, fine china, greeting cards, and kitchen tiles.

However, I had to be able to draw interlacing patterns before I could sew them. The drawing was challenging until I realized that each pattern is a single motif repeated over and over again. Since I could not reproduce the symmetry of the patterns with accuracy when drawing freehand, I developed a grid structure for drawing the designs.

Sample drawings of patterns.

Click on the images to see the type more clearly.

Interlacing designs drawn on paper can also be drawn on fabric. By sewing bias tubes over the design lines the patterns can be sewn to border fabric. In 1998 I published a book on this subject, Interlacing Borders: More Than 100 Intricate Designs Made Easy published by Martingale Company. Included are directions for making bias tubes and for sewing the patterns, including how to start and stop as well as tips for sewing angles, curves, crossovers, and corners. Unfortunately this book is now out of print but can still be purchased either new or second-hand on the Internet.

Interlacing Borders by Donna Hussain

Here are some quilts that illustrate how interlacing border designs can enhance the borders of quilts. Some of the quilts are mine. Others are quilts made by Sacramento friends who allowed me to add interlacing borders to their quilt tops for publication in the book. Fortunately, I own the book’s copyright so can legally reproduce these photos.

Photos of Quilts

Starburst Fun By Joyce Reece

Forest Light By Donna Hussain

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Hearts By Candy Kraft

Leaves in the Wind By Cynthia Moseby

Rainbow Weaving By Elizabeth Lonnquist

Fourpatch Plus By Donna Hussain

Quintessential Quilter's Round Robin
By Ouida Braithwaite, Nancy Barrow, Donna Hussain, Kit La Due, and Sandy Ross

California quilter, Donna Hussain, has exhibited in major quilt shows around the country, authored books, and is a regular contributor to Fiber Focus. Click on her name to see all of her past articles.

The photo shows Donna with her husband, Pascha.

Interlacing Designs for Quilt Borders by Donna Hussain