Kantha

Kantha is the running-stitch quilting of Bengal, made by layering worn saris and cloth and binding them together with rows of small running stitches. Born as thrift, the same simple stitch that holds the layers also draws the design: in the figured nakshi kantha the running stitch fills the whole ground around a central lotus medallion and corner motifs, working in flowers, animals, birds, and scenes of daily life. The craft is a household tradition of West Bengal in India and of Bangladesh, carried by women and worked in colored thread often pulled from the borders of the old saris themselves. Once a way to give frayed cloth a second life as a quilt or wrap, kantha is now a celebrated embroidery practiced well beyond its origins.