Ralli Quilts on Sale: 25% Off!

Dimensions: 82" long x 59" wide
Metric: 208.5 x 150 cm
Ralli #95, $140  (discounted to $105)

I have posted quite a bit about ralli quilts in this blog.  If you would like to learn more about them, click here to see the past posts.  Made in villages throughout India and Pakistan, ralli quilts have been a big favorite of mine and I buy them when I can.  Mothers have handed the designs down to their daughters for generations and finishing off a ralli is a communal event, much like our historical quilting bees.  Women sit around the unfinished piece, stitching the long rows that will hold it together.  I love the uneven squares, the sometimes odd choices of fabric, and the multi-functional role these pieces have served:  bed quilt, wall hanging and even as a door in the village huts...

I have five rallis left in my Etsy shop.  You can see all of them on this page:  click!  Two are simple whole cloth quilts, priced at $60 and $75.  The discount would bring them down to $45 and $56.25.  The one shown at the top of this post is the biggest one, in very good, usable condition.

This one is my favorite and the most expensive one I have ever carried:

Dimensions: 62" long x 43" wide
Metric: 157.5 x 109 cm
Ralli #93, $350  (discounted to $262.50)

Small and fragile, this ralli would have to be used as a wall hanging or as a decorative throw such as on a guest bed.  It would only cover the foot or middle of a bed.  The applique and color choices are lovely!

Another favorite is this wonky checkered ralli:

Dimensions: 78" long x 50" wide
Metric: 198 x 127 cm
Ralli #94, $135  (discounted to $101.25)

Yes, it is narrower at the bottom...  The quilt does not hang well, but it looks great thrown on to a couch or bed.  What I like best about it is the feel of the fabric.  I can't figure out what it is and assume it's some kind of polyester, but it is soft and worn and feels like silk.  Maybe an acetate?  Normally, I despise polyester, but whatever this is, it is cool, soft and pleasing to touch.

These are your five ralli choices!  All 25% off through November 24th.  I normally give free shipping on orders over $100 but will not be able to do that during the sale.  When you are through shopping, type in NOVEMBERSALE as your coupon code and Etsy will add the 25% discount to anything that is in my shop.

Wrap yourself in a ralli! 

Ralli Quilts on Sale: 25% Off!

The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Cultural Textiles

 

TAFA Team member, Catherine Bayar, sells vintage textiles, knits and is setting up a workshop for women in Istanbul, Turkey.

TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List was launched in February, 2010.  As it has grown, now to over 200 members, so have the members who have Etsy shops.  About half of us use Etsy as our retail platform.  We decided to organize as an Etsy Team (a program Etsy has for sellers to organize under themes or locations) and set up a blog where we can talk about what is important to us and where we can show off our shops.  The blog has eight pages of shops, divided into themes and serves as our Team Shops Catalog.  Although many of us sell things that do not fit neatly into those categories, most of us do have a focus.  I am introducing each of those categories here, hoping that this will encourage you to go over there and shop, shop, shop, until you drop!  These eight pages have over 100 shops, filled with wonderful eye candy that will surely delight anyone who appreciates all the many techniques and traditions that are found in the needle and textile arts. 

Today's focus:  Cultural Textiles

 

 Afghan Tribal Arts sells vintage textiles and beads from Afghanistan and the region.  

Many of the beads are hand-carved semi-precious stones which support artisans who have been living in refugee camps for decades.

 

 

Although I love all kinds of textiles and the techniques that go with them, I have to say that my passion lies with cultural textiles, especially embroidery from Central Asia.  I quilt and embroider and sew and make all kinds of stuff, but when I see these embroideries, touch them, and think of all of the work that goes into them, my mind goes into sensory overload.  That is part of the attraction for me: the skill, the use of basic materials to create something beautiful, the textures and images created in and through fabric and thread...  The other magnet is the knowledge that these pieces come from communities where crafts are central to the cultures they represent.  They bring with them centuries of stories, of traditions, of symbolism.  They are pictures of people, most of whom face terrible difficulties in our modern world.  War, famine, global warming, deforestation, pesticide use, land grabbing, aids, and so many other devastating perils threaten communities that we have called "ethnic" or "tribal" in the past.  Along with their displacement and poverty goes their knowledge and ability to produce the textiles and crafts that tell their stories.

 

 

 Valerie Hearder, a quilter, started African Threads to help women in South Africa find new markets for their embroidery and other crafts.  She has introduced contemporary images, like the Michael Jackson icon above, along maintaining traditional ones.

 

 

An understanding dawned on development leaders in the 1970's that crafts had potential as an economic development tool.  There was a handmade revolution back then, too, with the hippie movement and all of the do-it-yourself projects that were starting to roll out to market through kits.  Remember all the macrame projects?  Cutting glass?  There is a parallel that remains true today:  people who have exposure to making things themselves appreciate handmade things from around the world.  Other reasons for interest in cultural crafts have to do with travel, support for causes, empathy, and so on.  So, way back then, the Peace Corps taught the Otavalo Indians how to knit sweaters using Scandinavian designs, other development groups began looking at how crafts could employ the people they were working, churches saw that they could also do this and the concept of fair trade came into being.  Thirty years later we continue to see efforts all over the world, formally and informally, of using craft production as a means to both preserve cultural traditions and village structures through and economic development focus.  Many of these models have brought relief closer to home.  Alabama Chanin, for example, has successfully created a business which employs women in Alabama to make gorgeous handmade clothing using sustainable practices and materials.  All of our TAFA Team members who are working with cultural textiles also have social missions which encourage economic development in the communities they represent.

 

 Indira Govindan of dharmakarmaarts is an artist who is inspired by her Indian ancestry.  ALL of the proceeds of her Etsy sales go to support a handicapped project in India.

When I started TAFA, I made the conscious choice of giving both cultural and contemporary textiles and fiber art the same importance in sharing a common platform.  One of the challenges we face when working with these textiles is that they have been perceived as less valuable than contemporary work.  A weaver in Guatemala is called a producer or artisan while a weaver in Santa Fe is referred to as a fiber artist.  All of this translates into dollars.  As these traditions disappear, we will end up having a handfull of masters or living cultural treasures and then cheap imitations that are churned out by sweat shops or machines.  Already, the places in the world where carpets are still produced have dwindled to a handful of countries.  As they industrialize and destroy traditional nomadic or village life, the need for and ability to maintain production disappears.

 MayaMam is a new effort working with a weaving group in Guatemala.

All of us who sell online have to master many skills in order to present our goods successfully: we have to become great photographers, product designers, learn how to practice good customer service, learn about shipping to places around the world, and so on.  Our Team has many levels of expertise and we have implemented a mentor program where experienced sellers can guide the newbie ones.  Yet, none of us can move forward without support from a willing customer base, you!  Whether these textiles are purchased for their beauty or for the good that they do, there is a necessary bond that connects the maker to the seller to the buyer.  There has been a strong bias on Etsy against cultural crafts because most of us who sell them are not making the product.  Yet, the makers, in these cases, are often illiterate, have no access to computers, are living in terrible conditions and they need us as a bridge to bring their work to market.

 Dr. Christi Bonds Garrett of HeArt of Healing has one of the largest mola collections in the MidWest.  As an art quilter, she also loves vintage japanese kimono which can be cut up and used in new pieces.  As a practitioner of Integrative Medicine, Christi is especially interested in the Kuna medicinal traditions and how they are documented in their molas.  The above mola shows a Kuna woman working on a weaving while she smokes her pipe.

I find it interesting how many of us in our Team who work with cultural textiles also make our own work.  This cultural exchange is not new.  Picasso, Gauguin and many others were influenced by tribal or ethnic work that made their way to Europe.  The Moors changed the art of Southern Spain and Portugal.  With all of the technological exchanges we have in our world today, we see global fusion happening in all areas of life: crafts, food, music and even in the choices we make for marriage partners and social circles.  It's a fascinating time in history.  There is a constant choice we make in what to assimilate and what gets lost in the translation.  This is where the preservation of vintage textiles are so important.  We can keep them as references to the past while we explore new ways to relate to the present and future.

My shop, Rayela, has vintage textiles from around the world and remnants which can be incorporated into new pieces.  A special love I have: ralli quilts from India and Pakistan.

Interest in cultural textiles often leads to increased knowledge about the people who made them which can then foster actual connections.  Several of our members offer cultural tours specializing in textile production.  Valerie Hearder is taking a group to South Africa in 2011.  Fiona Wright (Glitzandpieces on Etsy) sells vintage saris and textiles on Etsy, but spends most of her time on workshops and leading her cultural tours around India.

 Wouldn't a cultural tour with Fiona be something to remember forever?

It's a beautiful world and we bring some of it to you through our Cultural Textiles.  Do not hesitate to contact the shops for more information on what they are doing.  We are a social group, anxious to make connections and friendships along the way!

Click here to visit our Cultural Textiles in our TAFA Team Catalog of Shops.

And, while you are there, click on the other tabs to see our other Team member shops.  We aim to be the best in textiles and fiber art on Etsy!

The TAFA Team's Catalog of Shops: Cultural Textiles

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.




*

Six New Ralli Quilts on Etsy!

Tithing for Textiles

Ralli Quilt from Pakistan

I recently had an Etsy customer buy three of my ralli quilts. She bought two the first time and then several weeks later, a third one. Most of what I carry in my shops are low end items, under $30. Textile stamps have the biggest following, but the remnants, beads, fabric and molas also get their share of attention. The higher end, vintage textiles (ralli quilts, suzani embroideries and kilims), sit for a longer period in my shops, but eventually, the right person finds them and they also sell. This customer mentioned that she was excited to spend money from her textile fund.

Textile fund? Interesting.... She set aside money every month until she had enough to buy something that really was special to her. That got me to thinking.... Most of the people that I know have lost a lot of money during these hard economic times. This lost money means that "disposable" income that could be used for fun, for impulse purchases, is gone. The belt tightens up and priorities (mortgages, utilities, food, etc.) take precedence over unnecessary purchases. Most would argue that buying a textile or art falls into that "unnecessary" category. Yet, even in hard times, most of us spend money on non-art things that we also don't need: a coffee, an electronic toy, a hamburger, and so on. $10 here, $15 there. I would argue that there is a place, a needed one, for beautiful, handmade things in our lives. So, what if we actually made that a priority and set up a fund for beauty?

Suzani Embroidery from Uzbekistan

Having limited income forces most of us to think more carefully about our purchases. I do think that this is a behavior that we, as a society, desperately need if we are to change how we impact this earth. We buy and sell so much junk, so much stuff that just ends up in a corner, eventually gets donated or thrown out. Stuff that will never biodegrade. Stuff that breaks the first time you use it. Stuff that becomes obsolete in two years. Stuff, stuff, stuff. When we don't have much money, we still have this urge to spend and this makes us go for what is cheap.

Banana Leaf with Butterflies, Mola from Panama

My mother is the incarnation of the practical woman who understands value as that what is lasting. She was a farm girl from Minnesota of Icelandic stock. When I was six months old, she and my Dad went to Brazil as missionaries and we spent the next 18 years there. Shopping was always a search for value. Not for what was cheap, but for what would last. We had one of those old wringer washing machines that would destroy anything that was poorly sewn. They boiled the clothes, so if dye was not set, it would leak on everything else. She would rather have one good sweater that would last twenty years, then 10 sweaters that would fall apart in a year. I learned that lesson from her and look at everything in terms of how it is built or constructed.

My mother reading me a story in 1962.

So, maybe setting up a separate bank account for beauty is one way to go. My customer also made me think of the concept of tithing. This is a practice many churches have of giving 10% of one's income back to the church in order to fund church projects and to help the poor. Jews, Muslims, and other religions have similar concepts. In the old days, this concept went beyond money and included one's labor: crops or products. At different points in European history, tithing was translated into taxation, overseen by the Church with political backing. Forced tithing or taxation resulted in imprisonment, land grabbing and finally, revolts. Tithing went back to a voluntary concept.

Handwoven kilim from Afghanistan

In thinking about this, I am attracted by the idea of not only setting up a beauty fund, but of also allocating a percentage of one's productivity toward charity. Those of us who are artists do have an asset that can be given back to society. We can volunteer our knowledge to a community program (after-school programs, nursing homes, hospitals, homeless shelters, etc) through teaching a free workshop or we can donate items that we make or our computer skills to fund-raising events or to the less fortunate around us.

Each of us has to find our place in this world and to choose how we spend our buying power and our productive energy. The handmade movement does have a huge impact on what is being made (is it junk?) and where these things end up. We can save for beauty, tithe for it, work for it, and slowly change the perceptions of what we need and want. My thanks to a wonderful customer who made me do a bit of thinking!

Tithing for Textiles

Wrap yourself in a ralli quilt!

Ralli Quilt #71, Front and Back $160

Those of you who have been following my blog for awhile know that I have a special place in my heart for ralli quilts. These vintage Indian and Pakistani quilts captured my attention awhile back and I have invested everything I could to stock my stores with them. The more I have, the more I want! Hopefully, this is a contagious virus that can be caught through this blog and you will get the disease, too... (Heh, heh) So far, I've succumbed to keeping three for myself while the rest are on Etsy and and in my little store in Paducah (212 Broadway).

Ralli Quilt #69, Front and Back $90

I just finished working on the photos for a new batch that I will be listing soon. If you act quickly, you can purchase these directly from me at a 20% discount from the price listed. Once I have listed them on eBay or Etsy, you will have to go through that store's shopping cart. I also photographed lots of other new things and it will take me several days to post everything, so you have a little bit of time.

Ralli Quilt #70, Front and Back $82

Click on the photos to see larger images of the quilts. I have five photos of each. I'm showing the front and back of each one here and can send the other three to those interested. Leave a comment with contact information and I'll get them to you. The quilts are all about a single bed size. They are functional and can be used, but also look great as wall hangings. The backs are often as interesting as the fronts. All of them have flaws (or they would be much, much more expensive!). I also quilt which might be why I have the disease so badly, but even for the non-quilter, these quilts have some of the folk art qualities that make "naive" art so interesting. They are often crooked, use bizarre (to my eye) color combinations, and carry a history of use in their stains and imperfections. Prices are based on what I paid for them plus quality. Shipping is free on purchases over $100. Feel free to add other of my items on Etsy or eBay to take advantage of that offer.

Ralli Quilt #67, Front and Back $140

Haven't heard of ralli quilts before? Read my other articles for more history, other photos and a review on the book Ralli Quilts by Patricia Ormsby Stoddard.

Ralli Quilt #68, Front and Back $42

All of the quilts are filthy when I get them. I machine wash them in industrial machines to both clean them and test them for durability. Most of these quilts are probably from the 1960's and 1970's.

Ralli Quilt #65, Front and Back $140

Brighter quilts often have a silk content, mixed with poly blends. The earthier ones are cotton which were dyed with cheap, commercial dyes that have faded over time. They are my personal favorites, although I like the bright ones, too. I originally thought that they had been dyed with veggie dyes, but Stoddard's book set me straight.

Ralli Quilt #66, Front and Back $148

I accept Pay Pal, checks and money orders. I will give further instructions on how to pay to those serious about purchasing a quilt.

Ralli Quilt #42, Front and Back $75

For purchases under $100, the quilts fit into a flat rate box that ships for $9 in the United States. I recently shipped a quilt to Denmark and that one cost $35 in shipping.

Ralli Quilt #64, Front and Back $140

That's it! Hope you come down with the Ralli virus as seriously as I have. Sorry, there is no antidote except for growing your collection...

Wrap yourself in a ralli quilt!

Women of Tilonia and The Barefoot College

My friend Pam sent me this video entitled "Women of Tilonia":

She knows how much I love ralli quilts and the video shows two women preparing a quilt top for appliqué.


"Wish I could sit like that..." I thought, as I watched the video. Then, I realized I had no idea where Tilonia was. Tilonia? Well, I googled and followed links and was amazed to read on about this place in Rajasthan, India, which hosts the novel concept of a Barefoot College.


This is how they describe themselves:

"The Barefoot College is a place of learning and unlearning. It's a place where the teacher is the learner and the learner is the teacher. It's a place where NO degrees and certificates are given because in development there are no experts-only resource persons. It's a place where people are encouraged to make mistakes so that they can learn humility, curiosity, the courage to take risks, to innovate, to improvise and to constantly experiment. It's a place where all are treated as equals and there is no hierarchy.

So long as the process leads to the good and welfare of all; so long as problems of discrimination, injustice, exploitation and inequalities are addressed directly or indirectly; so long as the poor, the deprived and the dispossessed feel its a place they can talk, be heard with dignity and respect, be trained and be given the tools and the skills to improve their own lives the immediate relevance of the Barefoot College to the global poor will always be there."

The college has a focus on handicrafts with workshops in embroidery, sewing, block printing, furniture making, and other traditional crafts.


These are natural extensions of Rajasthan's rich history in all of these crafts. Friends of Tilonia was established to help market the handicrafts:
"Friends of Tilonia, Inc. is a US-based, 501(c)3 non-profit organization established to provide marketing and business development assistance to the crafts section of the Barefoot College, in Tilonia, Rajasthan, India. For more than 35 years, the Barefoot College has been working to address basic needs of the rural poor: water, health, education, energy and employment, while enrolling individuals in the processes that govern their lives.
In 1975, the lack of employment in the villages in Rajasthan forced many of the rural poor to migrate to the cities. While largely an agricultural area, many of the poor in the region were artisans engaged in various crafts. Lacking access to a broader market, these rural artisans abandoned, and still continue today to abandon their trades to seek other, more gainful means of livelihood.
The Barefoot College began promoting rural craft production to address this problem of under-employment. Assistance in improving designs and techniques, creation of marketing outlets, and access to credit have helped to restore and create new income opportunities for craftsmen and women. Training and materials provided by the College also enables women to work from home, helping them to generate income from their needlework or other handicrafts."
Their beautiful website showcases the products made by these artisans as well as photos of the producers, such as the ones I have used in this post. But, the college goes way beyond these efforts and its geographical location. They are tackling issues of malnutrition, illiteracy, health, solar power and many other fundamentals of survival most rural poor face around the world.

Then, I watched this video:

The First Women Barefoot Solar Engineers Of The World

I was absolutely floored! They are bringing rural, illiterate, middle aged women from around the world to live in Tilonia for six months to become solar engineers! As they do not share a common language, all the training is done through drawings and color coding. You have to watch the video to really understand the amazing strategy and potential impact this program has on the participants and the villages they represent.

When I was in college, I learned about Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator who revolutionized the concept of learning, especially when working with literacy and the poor. Wikipedia states:
"More challenging is Freire's strong aversion to the teacher-student dichotomy. This dichotomy is admitted in Rousseau and constrained in Dewey, but Freire comes close to insisting that it should be completely abolished. This is hard to imagine in absolute terms, since there must be some enactment of the teacher-student relationship in the parent-child relationship, but what Freire suggests is that a deep reciprocity be inserted into our notions of teacher and student. Freire wants us to think in terms of teacher-student and student-teacher - that is, a teacher who learns and a learner who teaches - as the basic roles of classroom participation."

The Barefoot College is Freire's dream come true! What a wonderful model this place is for all who are interested in empowering the disenfranchised. When I see programs like this, my hope for the future is renewed. If you are looking for an organization to support, I would say that any support given here is money well spent.

Women of Tilonia and The Barefoot College