These quilts are colourful ,exurberant, instinctive ,vibrant and exquistely assembled. Made with love !This is a vibrant 70's brown and orange gypsy quilt! Not such fine stitching as my special ones but cheerful all the same! I have been collecting late 20th Century dowry quilts from the Sindh valley, Pakistan, for some years now. It is an interesting period in textile history as so many influences from political unrest ,natural disasters, such as drought and earthquakes, migration of rural quilt making famlies to the city and of course technology have all been instrumental to the demise of the quilt making tradtions .When a quilt is started the women of the house invite their neighbours to help and a group of them work together for a full day to layer the quilt (at least three layers) and sew in the tacking stitches so the family can then concentrate on their decorative embroidery.Three or four women will work on a quilt at the same time once they have finished their other work for the day.It is an integral part of the culture in this part of the world belived to represent the earth as they are used on items close to the ground ,ie beds ,cots,and rugs. As synthetic fabrics flooded the local markets, their vivid colours and cheap prices became more popular with the women and so their quilts ( made up from left over fabrics they used for their clothes) also became brighter !