I don’t know where to start talking about RaasILeela and their products. As a textile designer and nerd I adore the work of Hetal Shrivastav and her team, not only do they work with re-purposing textile waste they also look to keeping endangered techniques and skills alive. This ‘sujani’ quilt range is supporting the last family hand weaving these double cloth fabrics.

Rafiq Bhai, his brother Ameen and his sister-in-law Famitha weave on these 8 shaft looms, two people work at one time to weave this pocketed double cloth. After each section is woven the pockets are stuffed with cotton fibre and then the shed is changed to seal it off. These quilts are heavy but also have an amazing drape and fall due to the way they are woven.

These quilts are then worked on by the artisans at the RaasLeela studio and are embroidered and appliqued. Look closely at the design and you will see a beetle in the one corner and swirling leaves and tendrils across the surface.

These quilts are made under the banner of ‘Unschooled Artist’ where the designer and craftspeople work together to develop a product using traditional craft for the modern market. The idea being to keep these skills alive and relevant.

100% handwoven cotton stuffed with cotton fibre.

Size: 58” x 80” (140 x 210cm)

It is suggested that these quilts be dry cleaned. Personally I would hand wash these in a trough or bathtub, drain the water off well and then spin in the washing machine to remove excess moisture, then dry flat on a very hot day.