A Razai is a duvet or a comforter, traditionally made using khadi as the fabric cover, filled with cotton. This cotton is carded by hand, using a pindar (an instrument like a bow), and hand-stitched with a needle. Hand-quilting is one of India’s oldest crafts, essentially for for domestic purposes, before evolving into a craft form. Every state in India has its own versions of hand-quilting.

The quilts use an inner cotton layer for warmth and the top layer is either from recycled (from saris, odhnis, dhotis) and upcycled fabric. Sometimes they also use newly sourced fabric like printed velvet. All pieces are stitched together to form a warm stack of cloth sewn together with running stitch. Herbal rinses enhance the warmth and fragrance of the razai, which remain scented for long periods. Often, block printed fabrics are creatively combined. This lets each side of the quilt have a distinct character and reversible.

Quilt-making involves two essential processes: bharai or filling, and tagai or quilting. Traditionally, men work on bharai as it requires a lot of physical energy and involves the separation of cotton fibres, its uniform distribution over the base sheet of the quilt, and the rhythmic beating of cotton into the shell with a stick or a tool. The women work on tagai, using motifs like the shakarpari (diamond), paan patti (spade) and thaali (a circle).

Besides the Jaipuri razai, the ralli of Rajasthan is also famous. This is also a quilt made by bringing together different materials, connecting cultural and woven creations. Quilting is different from making blankets or khes, as it's essentially a domestic craft by women working in cottage industries.

The book Quilts of India: Timeless Textiles, by Patrick J Finn, is illustrated with 500 photographs of this tradition. It elevates this seemingly ordinary domestic craft to an art form. The book delves into the spirit and stories of quilt makers and how their work, the way they cut and snip fabric, embroider cloth, and use the thread mirrors challenges and triumphs of their lives. It serves as an important cultural narrative.

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