Ralli quilt

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Image:Http://www.flickr.com/photos/valasai97/406653988/.jpg Ralli Quilts are remarkable, very traditional quilts made by women in the areas of Sindh, Pakistan, western India, and in surrounding areas. They are just now gaining international recognition, even though women have been making these quilts for hundreds, maybe thousands of years; they make colorful Quilts, Table Runners and hand-embroidered cushions and pillows which are called Ralli Quilt.

Many handicrafts like cushion covers, embroidered shirts, wall hangings and mirror-worked bags are made in Umarkot and Tharparker. Production can also be found in the Indian states of Rajisthan and Gujarat.

Their folk art handmade quilts are internationally popular. The Quilts come in three types appliqué, patchwork and embroidery.

In Pakistan, Rallis of Province Sindh are characteristically beautiful and colorful. Ralli is a type of quilt made by patchwork. It is also used as bed linen. Ralli is prepared using multicolor pieces of cloth stitched together in attractive designs. Its color combination and unique pattern speak for the aesthetic sense of its creator. Designs will typically vary from floral motifs, waves and images of animals and trees.

The lives of the people who make the textiles are woven into each piece. The symbols of flowers and animals used in the decoration and colors are imaginative and exotic. Every Ralli Quilt tells a story. It tells of the natural creativity and love of color and design of the women who create them. Every ralli tells the story of the strength of tradition. The basic designs and motifs of rallis have been passed from mother to daughter and woman-to-woman for maybe thousands of years."

Celia Eddy, an English author, teacher of quilts has a deep study about ralli quilts. She has wrote about ralli quilts in her book "QUILTED PLANET". Of ralli quilts, she says that their patterns and colors “embody all the romance and exoticism of the East.” Did you know that in the Indus region of Pakistan, where many rallies are made for dowries to this day, the word ‘ralli’ means to ‘mix’ or ‘connect’. One of the ralli quilts pictured in QP looks like a bar quilt of flying geese, surrounded by a thin Sawtooth border and a wider border of a square-in-a-square on point.