Block Print Quilts: The Indian Quilt Made for More Than Winter

Our mothers airing the razais out in the winter sun always seemed to mean the same thing. Winter had arrived, or was about to.

There was something comforting about the whole ritual. The quilt came out of the cupboard, got its turn in the sun, and found its way back onto the bed once the evenings became colder. In many Indian homes, quilts have always been practical things. They are made to be used, washed, aired, folded, carried from one room to another and brought out year after year.

At Deodar, we think a good quilt should still have that kind of life.

Our block print quilts are made from cotton, filled with cotton and designed to be used through more than one season. They can sit over a bedsheet on a cool evening, become an AC quilt in summer or add another layer to the bed when winter properly arrives.

And because the two sides are hand block printed, they bring something else to the bed too: colour, pattern and the particular character that comes from something made by hand.

What Is a Block Print Quilt?

At its simplest, a quilt is made by placing a layer of filling between two pieces of fabric and stitching the layers together.

A block print quilt begins in much the same way, but the fabric comes first.

The two cotton layers are printed before they are brought together. A carved wooden block is dipped into dye and pressed onto the fabric, one impression at a time. The process is repeated across the length of the cloth until the pattern is complete.

The two printed fabrics are then layered with cotton filling between them and quilted together.

This is what gives a hand block printed quilt its particular character. The pattern is not simply printed onto a finished bedcover. The fabric itself has already passed through a craft process before it becomes part of the quilt.

If you want to understand more about how this craft works, we have written about it in our guide to Indian heritage textiles and the story behind block printing.

How We Make Our Block Print Quilts

There are several stages between a piece of cotton fabric and the quilt that eventually lands on your bed.

It Starts With Mulmul Cotton

The base of our quilts is soft mulmul cotton.

We use cotton on both sides because the fabric matters just as much as the filling when you are making something that sits against the body for hours at a time. Mulmul has a soft, light feel, which makes it particularly suited to quilts that need to work across different temperatures.

The result is a quilt that has some substance without becoming unnecessarily heavy.

Then Comes the Block Printing

The fabric is hand block printed by our artisan partners in Jaipur.

The process begins with a carved wooden block. The block is dipped into dye and pressed onto the fabric, then lifted and positioned again for the next repeat. This continues across the cloth, with the printer relying on their eye and hand to maintain the rhythm of the pattern.

Small variations are part of this process. A flower may sit a fraction differently from the one before it. The depth of colour may vary slightly between impressions.

That is what separates a hand printed textile from one produced by a machine.

We have also written about how to tell a genuine block print from a machine print, including what to look for on the front and reverse of the fabric.

The Cotton Filling Goes In Between

Once both sides have been printed, the layers are assembled with cotton filling between them.

The filling is important because it determines how the quilt feels in use. We use cotton rather than a synthetic filling, keeping the construction natural from the fabric through to the inside.

For our current quilted pieces, the filling is a light surgical cotton layer about 150 grams suited to everyday use and layering.

We use surgical cotton roll rather than loose cotton for the filling. This gives the quilt a more even construction and helps prevent the filling from bunching or clumping with use over time.

The Layers Are Quilted Together

The final stage is quilting.

The three layers are stitched together so that the filling stays evenly distributed rather than moving around inside the quilt. The quilting also gives the finished piece its characteristic texture.

This is an important part of making a good quilt. The stitching needs to hold the filling securely while still allowing the quilt to retain its softness.

The current Deodar pieces are machine quilted into 1 inch to 4 inch diamond shaped patterns after the hand block printing has been completed. 

What Makes a Good Indian Quilt?

A beautiful print will always catch your eye first.

But when you are buying a quilt, there is more to consider than just the pattern.

Look at the fabric, the filling, the quilting and how you actually intend to use it. Read our earlier piece on what makes Deodar's Block Print Bedspreads so special.

The Filling Matters

Cotton and synthetic fillings behave differently.

Cotton has a natural breathability that makes it useful for Indian homes, where a bedroom can move from warm afternoons to cool nights and heavily air conditioned rooms within the same week.

A quilt with cotton filling can also be layered. You can use it lightly when the weather is mild and add another layer when temperatures fall.

That flexibility is one of the reasons we prefer cotton for our quilts. Synthetic fills are more stuffy and suited to colder climates than the tropical indian weather.

The Quilting Matters Too

Filling is only half the story. It needs to stay where it was put.

Good quilting keeps the filling evenly distributed rather than allowing it to gather into lumps or thin patches. The stitching also helps the quilt retain its shape through regular use and washing.

This is one of those details you may not notice when you first see a quilt on a beautifully made bed. You notice it later, when you have been using the quilt for months and it still feels like the same piece you bought.

Cotton Fill vs Polyfill: What Difference Does It Make?

If you have ever slept under a synthetic filled quilt, you will know that warmth is not always the same thing as comfort.

Polyfill can create a very different feeling because it tends to trap heat. Cotton filling has a lighter, more breathable quality, which is useful when you want warmth without the weight of a heavy blanket.

This matters particularly in India.

A winter bedroom in Delhi is not the same as a winter bedroom in a heated European home. The temperature changes, the AC goes on and off, and there are plenty of evenings when a heavy blanket feels like too much but a bedsheet feels like too little.

That is where a cotton quilt earns its place.

Why We Use Surgical Cotton Filling

The filling inside a quilt does not get seen, but it makes a difference to how the finished piece behaves.

We use surgical cotton rather than loose cotton so the filling stays more evenly distributed through the quilt. Combined with close quilting, this helps prevent the filling from shifting and gathering into uneven patches over time with use.

It also means the quilt remains light enough to fold, layer and move around the house.

That is important to us because we do not think a quilt should be a piece of bedding that comes out for one particular month and then disappears into storage.

Why Mulmul Cotton Makes a Difference

There is a softness to mulmul that suits this kind of bedding.

It is light, breathable and comfortable against the skin, which makes it particularly useful for a quilt that may be used directly over a bedsheet or as an additional layer at night.

The fabric also allows the block print to remain the focus. You get the colour and detail of the print without a heavy or stiff base underneath it.

Our current quilted bedspreads use mulmul or muslin cotton with light cotton filling, depending on the piece. You can see the current constructions and dimensions in our Bed Linen collection.

One Quilt, More Than One Job

The most useful thing about a good cotton quilt is that it does not need to wait for winter.

As a Cotton Bedcover

On a warm day, the quilt can simply sit across the bed as a cotton bedcover.

Fold it at the foot of the bed when you want more of the bedsheet underneath to show, or spread it fully across the mattress when you want the pattern to become the main feature of the room.

If you are looking for a lighter alternative to a heavy bedcover, cotton quilting gives you texture and warmth without the weight.

As an AC Quilt

This is probably the most useful job a lightweight quilt has in an Indian home.

The room may be cold because the AC has been running all night, while a heavy winter quilt is far too much.

A lightweight cotton quilt fills that gap.

It gives you something breathable to sleep under without turning the bed into a pile of heavy layers. Our own quilted bedspreads are designed as lightweight cotton pieces that can work as an AC quilt, coverlet or dohar during all 4 seasons. 

As a Light Throw

There are also evenings when you do not need the quilt on the whole bed or something over your cold feet when you are engrossed deep into reading a book or watching your favourite show.

Fold our single sized quilts across the foot of the bed or keep it over a reading chair as a throw. The print still adds colour and texture to the room, even when the quilt is not being used for warmth.

This is particularly useful with a reversible quilt because the second print gives you another way to use it visually.

As a Winter Quilt

When winter arrives properly, the same quilt becomes another layer on the bed.

You can place it over your bedsheet and add another blanket or quilt on particularly cold nights.

That is the way we like to think about bedding: layers rather than one enormous piece doing all the work.

If you are still deciding which bedsheet fabric and construction works for your bedroom, our block print bedsheet buying guide goes into thread count, fabric, weave and what actually matters when buying bedsheets in India.

What Makes a Hand Block Printed Quilt Different?

The print is only part of it.

A hand block printed quilt carries the marks of the process that made it. The carved wooden block, the repeated impression, the slight changes in pressure and colour, and the alignment between one motif and the next.

No two pieces will have every detail sitting in precisely the same position.

That is part of what makes a hand block printed quilt different from a mass produced printed bedcover.

The craft also gives the quilt a visual depth that works particularly well in bedrooms. Florals, butas, stripes and small repeating motifs can be layered with plain cotton sheets, textured cushions or another print without the room becoming too formal.

For more ideas on mixing prints and building a layered bedroom, you can also read our guide to styling cushion covers with colour, pattern and texture.

Why Reversible Quilts Are So Useful

There is something very practical about having two sides to a quilt.

One side might be a floral print while the other is a stripe. One may feel more colourful and the other more restrained. You can choose according to the rest of the room, the season or simply what you feel like looking at that morning.

It also means the quilt can change with the room around it.

You do not need to redecorate the bedroom to make it feel different. Turn the quilt over and you have another combination to work with.

Our reversible quilted bedspreads like the Lourmarin Bedspread or the Orchard Rose Quilted Bedspread are designed around this idea, with double sided prints that give the same piece more than one visual life.

Which Quilt Is Best for North Indian Winters?

For a North Indian winter, the right quilt depends on the temperature of the room and how you heat it.

A lightweight cotton quilt can work beautifully through the beginning and end of winter, particularly when the bedroom is not extremely cold. It can also be layered with another blanket or quilt when temperatures drop further in December and January months.

For a bedroom with regular heating or AC, the ability to add and remove layers is often more useful than buying one extremely heavy quilt.

This is also why cotton works so well in Indian homes. The same piece can move between seasons rather than being useful for only a few weeks of the year.

How to Choose a Block Print Quilt for Your Bedroom

Before choosing a quilt, think about how you want to use it.

Consider the fabric. Cotton is a good place to start if you want something breathable and suitable for regular use.

Look at the filling. Check whether the quilt uses cotton or synthetic filling and whether the filling is evenly distributed.

Look at the quilting. The stitching should hold the filling in place without making the quilt feel stiff.

Think about the print. A large floral makes more of a statement, while a smaller repeat can be easier to layer with patterned cushions and bedsheets.

Consider reversibility. Two usable sides give you more flexibility and allow you to change the look of the bed without buying another piece.

Check the dimensions. Measure your mattress rather than relying only on labels such as queen or king. Our current bed linen collection lists the dimensions of each piece so you can compare them with your own mattress.

And finally, think about whether you will actually use it.

A quilt that spends most of the year folded in a cupboard is not particularly useful, no matter how beautiful it looks.

How to Care for a Cotton Filled Block Print Quilt

Cotton quilts need a little care, particularly when they are hand block printed.

For our quilted pieces, we recommend hand washing or using a gentle cold machine cycle without tumble dry. Avoid bleach and strong chemical detergents. Line dry in the shade to protect the print and allow the cotton filling to dry properly.

If the quilt uses natural dye, some colour release during the first few washes can happen. Washing it separately at first is a sensible precaution.

The idea is simple: wash gently, dry properly and give the quilt enough space to air between uses.

A Quilt That Earns Its Place on the Bed

There is something very Indian about a quilt that is expected to do more than one job.

It keeps you warm when winter arrives. It comes out on an air conditioned summer night. It gets folded at the foot of the bed when you do not need it. It gets aired in the winter sun. It travels from one room to another and, if you are anything like us, eventually becomes part of the visual memory of the bedroom itself.

That is what we wanted our block print quilts to be.

Made from cotton, filled with cotton and finished with hand block printed fabric and a neat piping for structure, they are pieces designed to be used rather than saved for a particular season.

Explore Deodar's Block Print Bed Linen collection and find the quilt that belongs on your bed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a block print quilt?

A block print quilt is a quilt made with fabric that has been hand printed using carved wooden blocks. The printed fabric is layered with filling and another fabric layer before being quilted together.

Is cotton filling better than polyfill?

Cotton and synthetic filling behave differently. Cotton is naturally breathable and works well for lightweight bedding and layering in hotter climates, while synthetic fillings can retain more heat. The right choice depends on how you use the quilt and the temperature of your bedroom.

Can a quilt be used as a bedcover?

Yes. A lightweight cotton quilt can be used as a bedcover over a bedsheet, either spread across the bed or folded at the foot.

Can a cotton quilt be used as an AC quilt?

Yes. A lightweight cotton quilt is particularly useful in an air conditioned bedroom when you need a layer over you without the weight of a heavy winter quilt.

Which quilt is best for North Indian winters?

For milder winter nights, a lightweight cotton quilt can work on its own. When temperatures fall further, it can be layered with another blanket or quilt. The advantage of a cotton quilt is that it can continue to be useful outside peak winter too.