Pink stripes kantha quilt
Kantha is a centuries-old tradition of stitching patchwork cloth from rags, which originated from rural women in the Bengal and Bangladesh. One of the oldest forms of embroidery originating from India, its origins can be traced back to the pre-Vedic age (prior to 1500 BCE).
"Kantha" refers to both the style of running stitch, as well as the finished cloth. It was a craft that was practiced by women of all rural classes, but mainly but passed down in learning and dowry from mother to daughter.
Around five to seven fabrics would be layered together, the stitch would cover the entire cloth to provide strength using old sari’s and other fabrics that could be recycled int having a new life.
Women in almost every household in rural villages would be kantha experts, and spend whatever quiet time they had available between working and running the household and family. It could take months or even years to complete one kantha. The stitching could be handed down through generations, with grandmother, mother and daughter working on the same kantha.
Kantha is a centuries-old tradition of stitching patchwork cloth from rags, which originated from rural women in the Bengal and Bangladesh. One of the oldest forms of embroidery originating from India, its origins can be traced back to the pre-Vedic age (prior to 1500 BCE).
"Kantha" refers to both the style of running stitch, as well as the finished cloth. It was a craft that was practiced by women of all rural classes, but mainly but passed down in learning and dowry from mother to daughter.
Around five to seven fabrics would be layered together, the stitch would cover the entire cloth to provide strength using old sari’s and other fabrics that could be recycled int having a new life.
Women in almost every household in rural villages would be kantha experts, and spend whatever quiet time they had available between working and running the household and family. It could take months or even years to complete one kantha. The stitching could be handed down through generations, with grandmother, mother and daughter working on the same kantha.
Kantha is a centuries-old tradition of stitching patchwork cloth from rags, which originated from rural women in the Bengal and Bangladesh. One of the oldest forms of embroidery originating from India, its origins can be traced back to the pre-Vedic age (prior to 1500 BCE).
"Kantha" refers to both the style of running stitch, as well as the finished cloth. It was a craft that was practiced by women of all rural classes, but mainly but passed down in learning and dowry from mother to daughter.
Around five to seven fabrics would be layered together, the stitch would cover the entire cloth to provide strength using old sari’s and other fabrics that could be recycled int having a new life.
Women in almost every household in rural villages would be kantha experts, and spend whatever quiet time they had available between working and running the household and family. It could take months or even years to complete one kantha. The stitching could be handed down through generations, with grandmother, mother and daughter working on the same kantha.