BHARATI PAWASKAR
She always cherished a dream of becoming an IAS officer and work for women and children. A Masters in Sociology and a diploma holder in nutrition and child care, Deepali Maurya thought that the real strength and growth of a nation lies in fostering the growth and well-being of women and children.
“The growth, development and empowerment of women is the growth of the nation. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to become a Civil Service Aspirant. But I am happy that my work associates me with rural women and I am able to help them grow, in their own way,” smiles Deepali, founder of M/S Quilts Craft - a purely handmade artwork that one will fall in love with the moment he or she sees it.
Reviving the lost culture of quilt making and kantha stitching, Deepali is currently working with almost 20 women in the Pipavav village of Gujarat. “My basic aim is to revise this traditional pattern of handmade Godhadi, and in the bargain, empower the village women,” admits Deepali who is planning to market these products in Goa. Her quilts are of typical Gujarati and Maharashtrian patterns - all handcrafted intricately. Quilts are also made from new sarees too, as per the demand of the customers. It takes six days to stitch one quilt and the women karaagirs do it in their spare time.
Applique artist Deepali expresses that the real strength of ‘Quilts Craft’ lies in these homemakers, whose motherly touch, love and affection is weaved with every stitch in the making process of these soft, beautiful and colourful quilts. “And let me add, we are boosting the use of real fabric of the country - handmade Khadi and cotton. Khadi, as we all know symbolises with the ideology of self-reliance preached by Mahatma Gandhi, the father of our nation,” states Deepali, an artist herself from All Women’s League Group.
Deepali proudly shares, “We don’t compromise on the quality of our products and apart from traditional Indian designs we have tried to introduce some modern and fancy patterns too using only Khadi and pure cotton fabric. In patchwork quilts too all work is done by hand. For layers no cotton is used and only soft cotton cloth is inserted in the folds to give a feeling of comfort to the quilts.”
Apart from quilts, ‘Quilts Craft’ also makes cotton bags, baby bags (diaper bags) with compartments, table runners, Khadi bags and scarves too. Scarves are made in patch work. Deepali recalls that it was a year ago that she started her work of quilting at her venture ‘Quilts Craft’ and the village women make wonderful artwork with her assistance and guidance.
Living at port Pipavav in Amreli district of Gujarat, Deepali thought of reviving the local, traditional Kantha stitch and hence began motivating the women from her village to indulge in Kantha stitch so that the art does not die. As these women began to get recognition, appreciation and remuneration for their artwork, more and more joined Deepali’s tribe. Soon the group grew in size to 20.
Beginning with hand stitched quilts, gradually the group added more products to their list - shopping bags, bag pack, hobo bags, table runners. Planning to exhibit the artwork in Goa during December, Deepali is optimistic that the labour of love from these rural women and the popular Kantha stitch from Gujarat would receive a warm welcome in Goan homes.
