"Patching Lives, Quilting Joys", is Purkal Stree Shakti's mantra, a social enterprise based in the Himalayan foothills of Dehradun and Mussoorie. It was this very phrase that stuck with us. This and the colourful, quirky, whimsical, and full of joy designs that we couldn't stop admiring. They legit look like sunshine on a rainy day. Plus, their cause is pretty noble too.
Originally founded as Purkal Stree Shakti Samiti, an NGO by Chinny Swami (now 80-years-old) way back in 2003, the goal was to empower underprivileged village women, through the craft of handwork in - Applique, Patchwork, Hand Embroidery, and Hand Quilting. 17 years later and having impacted over 170 lives, the NGO has rebranded to a social enterprise now run by three of their original, in-house designers, Aiswarya, Banee and Astha.
PSS also refers to themselves as 'The Quilters Of India', for they originally began and continue to make all cotton, single and double quilts using the earlier mentioned techniques. Each quilt takes 150 hours to make, so these are slow produced, truly made with love and patience. With more demand, PSS has expanded to making baby quilts, cushion covers, aprons, tea cosies, bags, even pets products like playmats and soft toys.
We want the Moonbeam Patchwork Quilt (dreamy galaxy like) and the Parakeet Applique Quilt (dreamy forest like). Note that PSS can replicate a design and colour but the print of the fabric may differ and that's the beauty of it, if you ask us! Oh, we're also gushing over the Painting collection; Van Gogh and Monet on a quilt? Need.
