The age-old techniques for making these quilts involve many craftspeople with different skills. First, the soft, unbleached voile fabric is hand-block printed with vegetable dyes. This simple process seems to be the earliest of all printing methods to create sensational prints in rich and vibrant colors. People were hand-block printing on cloth long before they printed on paper. India has been ren
owned for its printed and dyed cotton cloth since the 12th century. The block-printed natural dyed cotton bedding of Jaipur has long been appreciated for its softness and comfort. What is unique about the tradition of hand block printing is that it is practised without the aid of mechanization or computerization. It is this defiant indifference to mechanization that gives block printing the aura of a pure craft form and makes block printed textiles so special. The main tools of the printer are blocks of teak wood with handles, one for each colour, carved to allow the design to stand up in relief. The block carving process needs a high degree of craftsmanship especially for the making of the outline block. An accurate freehand drawing of the design on tracing paper is transferred to the planed wood and then chiselled to the depth of a third of an inch. New blocks are soaked in oil for a few days to soften the grains in the timber. The fabric to be printed is stretched over the printing table and fastened with small pins. When the block is applied, it is slammed hard on the fabric where the pattern appears in reverse. A point on the block serves as a guide for the repeat impression, so that the whole effect is continuous and not disjointed. The outline printer has to be very skilled because he leads the process. If it is a multiple colour design, the second printer uses his block to fill in the colour and so on. It is interesting to estimate the number of blocks used in the printing of a quilt.
