The Genres of quilt making are numerous.
Most of you who read this blog are quilters and are aware of the huge variety of artistic expression there is in quilting.
For many years I've noticed beautiful niave quilts for sale in exclusive shops… Victoria and Albert Museum shop for one. I've been looking for information on this form of quilting. I came across the books below… and I would love to purchase them when they are printed… there are 3 volumes.
Read more about the field work - research for these 3 books. by Patrick J. Finn.
But the quilts I've been looking for are Kantha quilts. Women in West Bengal save fabric from their favorite saris and stitch it together with colorful thread
It's a reversible quilt of the finest cotton. I just loved the colors and I discovered that they are made from old cotton saris and quilted softly and plainly.
There is a wonderful exhibition of Kantha quilts right now in the Museum of Philadelphia.
Kantha is the old art of embroidery… really it's a fine running stitch, or we would call it a large quilting stitch.
Kantha is now produced with both traditional and contemporary designs. The word Kantha means Rags in Sanskrit.
They are made from old worn out saris and dhotis, and recycled into colorful quilts or coverlets.
It took the women months or even years to finish a Kantha, by using small stitches to create a series of dotted lines , they are sometimes patched in worn areas.
The piercing and layering of worn garments in order to make a new item provides the stitchers a way to make a serviceable item from bits of cloth that were previously of no use, thus conserving and renewing cloth.
Now how did I get onto kantha quilts…. well I was chatting to friend Carolyn today and she mentioned that she was able to subscribe to my favorite magazine on line.
Woow, take a look and subscribe… you won't be disappointed. There is so much information for textile artists…. or people who just plain love nice things
Reblogged this on I am Pam Holland and commented:
This is a blog I wrote some time ago, but its just one such blog about different genre’s in quilting.