Rhombuses in wool

The most common Baluchi motifs include rhombuses. This has been embroidered in thin dyed wool by Rukhsana who lives in a small quarter on Urak Road, Quetta. She is a Punjabi woman from Sargodha but has been living in Quetta for the past 16 years. Her embroidering speed is lightning fast and not as neat as other women's but one can hardly hold that against her. Neither of her two daughters embroider, both attend school. She embroidered 15 such flowers in the course of two afternoons.

Kashmiri Sozni

Of all the embroideries in the world, I love the sozni stitch best. In fact I am in total awe.
The man who embroidered this lives in Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir. I never came face-to-face with him but ordered through a local shopkeeper.
I'm here awhile, I will find the artisan whose signature this is.

Afghan bib front

I love this little bib. I bought this in Quetta too, though the embroidery motifs are definitely Afghan and not Baluch. Those are tiny white beads on the neckline and this, too, has been worn (by an infant, if size is anything to go by) and then ripped out to be sold. I can't get enough of how this unconventional color combination-(pista green, maroon, purple, orange!) is working out so well. Who would have thunk!
I'm going to attach shoulder pieces to extend the size of the neckline and have a kurta tailored for Breshnay.

Baluchi Embroidery

This is a piece I got in Quetta. I wonder if you can tell from the photograph, it is old and has been well worn by a little girl (and perhaps another little girl before her? and before her...?) Eventually, someone decided they'd had enough of the kurta and they ripped this embroidered bodice yoke (front and back) out and sell it. I got it from a bearded, turbaned Baluch with a shop near Meezan Chowk. He actually sells carpets not embroidered things, but he fished this out of a grimy "shopper" lying behind a stack of kilim cushions.
The neck-hole, despite the slit down the front, is rather tiny...Breshnay, my seven year old had a hard time getting her head through. Havent yet decided what I will do with this. So for now, it sits in my basket of rags.
The little round mirrors have been stitched on with more finesse and firmness than I've seen in any modern pieces. The mirror bits themselves are of rather good quality--none of the back silver has flaked off. I'm no archaeologist but I'd bet real money that this was embroidered at least over thirty (if not more) years ago.