Crafting Quilted Dreams- My Journey of 'Rags To Quilts'

As a kid, I grew up seeing my mother sewing which naturally imbibed the love for handmade or homemade from a very young age. I was formally introduced to 'Needlework' as a part of my studies in school. I took stitching classes during summer breaks and experimented with my home sewing machine. Years passed, I got on with my life, and studies losing track of the sewing path. I studied my Bachelors and Masters with Microbiology from Mumbai University. I was a lecturer of Biotechnology for 5 years after studies. Got married to my college sweetheart and moved to Bangalore, Karnataka.  In 2011, I delivered a beautiful daughter. I wanted to buy a quilt for her and I was astonished with the amount of money that big brands were taking for a simple quilt. I refused to spend so much money on it and this gave me a push to start sewing again. I made my first hand-stitched quilt for my daughter with my mother-in-law's old silk saree. It turned out so cozy and useful that I started making more quilts for home use.

I purchased a sewing machine and went on working with simple projects for a while, I made many baby quilts and learnt the process better. I started my quilt-making unit and named it 'Rags To Quilts' as I promoted upcycling instead of fresh fabrics. Small pieces of fabric or old sarees were converted to Quilts.

In year 2015 I had a baby boy for which I took a break from quilting. In no time I was suffering from postpartum depression, feeling like I've lost my freedom and had to be at home to look after the baby. This was my calling to revive sewing which helped me come out of depression in a few weeks. I recommend each lady especially housewives to pursue a hobby for situations like this.

Internet helped me learn about quilters across the globe and in our country. I 1st came across Shruti Dandekar a quilter from Sangli who inspired me a lot. I would see her posts and stories, this let me to connect with her. She taught me to make 'Portrait Quilts' with black and white fabrics. i fell in love with this and started making many more, she selected me for an internship and suggested that I should teach the process. Since then, in 2108 I started teaching how to make portrait quilts. I am the only certified teacher to teach this method designed by Shruti herself.

Then I got in touch with Vatsala Kamath who plays a big role in binding quilters of Bangalore together. She runs a quilting studio and that's the place I teach many of my classes. Slowly things started falling in place, a friend of mine who is a soap maker insisted me to come out of home and participate in social events. This led to a chain of networking which built my business slowly. I would make products and my sister Indrani Banerjee would help me with marketing and sales. That's our small story of how we started.

In year 2013 I was 1st introduced to 'Kau-Dhi' a traditional quilt making technique from parts of Karnataka. The original way to upcycle even tiny pieces of waste fabric was designed by people from small villages. My 1st teacher was 'Daulamma' a lady from Shahpur , Karnataka. I have not looked back since then, I made many many Kau-dhi's and started teaching this technique. I have taught at NGO's, schools, colleges, Institutes, Quilting communities etc. I have collected a lot of material on this technique and am currently writing a book on it called 'Kaptivated by Kau-Dhi'.

My 1st handstitched quilt from a saree

Portrait Of Srila Prabhupada for ISKCON temple

My 1st portrait quilt held by Shruti Dandekar during her class

Portrait Quilt class at Tsala Studio, Bangalore

Glimpses of Kau-dhi around me, my class on the same

Upcycled Saree Quilts

We also make upcycled keepsake saree quilts. One of a kind, custom made, exclusive one pieces for clients. Transferring mothers and grandmothers special/heritage sarees into cozy quilts for family members.