Traditional hand painted fabric from India.

You may have seen the embroidered peacock that my friend Lakshmi made for me. Today I received another gift from her: several samples of Kalamkari hand painted cotton. This textile has a very long history, which you can read about here. To Western eyes, it looks very simple, but an incredible amount of work goes into making each piece, and I understand that it is very expensive to buy. So I am greatly appreciative of Lakshmi sending these pieces to me. I haven't decided how I will use them, in fact I may not even use them on anything, for fear of messing them up! At the moment I have them in a plastic display envelope so I can carry them around safely to show my friends who can't see it here on my blog. Lakshmi has photos on her blog, showing how she has used her Kalamkari fabrics, and they look so pretty. Ken is very taken with the little elephant - he'll no doubt want me to make something which features it in a prominent position!