My Latest Decorating Obsession: Kantha Quilts

Hi guys!  As I mentioned previously, we are working on sprucing up our master bedroom a little bit.  By “we”, I of course mean “me”. Except for when I need a little brute force – then it’s a legitimate we.  I like my man to have more muscles than decorating opinions, and he happily obliges.  Actually that’s not entirely true.  I am blessed with a husband who has pretty good taste . . . and he is blessed with the wisdom to let the girl with the interior design degree have her way.  Usually.

We’re a good team, in decorating and in life. He half-watches HGTV with me and nods in approval when I make a comment and I half-listen while he talks about sports and throw out a “That’ll move the chains” once in a while so he knows I’m really “getting it”.  We’re in love.

But that’s not why I gathered y’all here today.  No.  The topic of today’s discussion is Kantha quilts.  In the beginning, my color and pattern choices for the bedroom were pretty . . . well, safe.  Neutral.  Boring.  I was longing for a bright, colorful pop of wild, large floral pattern to pull it all together and breathe some life into the design.  Inspired by this sleeping bag fromAnthropologie, I wanted to make a thin quilt to fold up at the foot of our bed that was solid on one side with a bold floral on the other.  

 

{image via}

I have spent hours and looked at {literally} thousands of floral print fabrics online, but none of them spoke to me in that special way that sets my heart all aflutter.  In my hours of going down the Pinterest wormhole, I came across a miraculous solution to my problem – Kantha Quilts.  Kantha {pronounced KHAN-taa} is a type of embroidery used to make simple quilts.  Originating in Bangladesh and the eastern states of India, rural women use old saris and cloth and layer them with a kantha stitch to make light blankets, throws or bedspreads. Vintage Kantha quilts made from gorgeous old saris can be found all over the internet, but they are kind of  pricy.  

 

{image via} 

By Googling "Kantha Quilts" or "Blankets from India", I found several shops that sell Kantha quilts made out of bright, beautiful, modern floral and bird prints on cotton fabric.  Many of the shops were humanitarian in nature, giving the proceeds back to the communities in which the blankets are produced. {Win, win!}  The quilts are thin – typically without batting in between the layers – so they are perfect for warm areas {like here in Arizona} or for layering your bedding without adding a bunch of bulk.

I was nervous about ordering one because the colors look so vastly different from one photo to the next.  What I LOVED in one photo, I HATED in another and I couldn’t tell which version was the one I was going to get.  For example, the three photos above are of the same fabric, believe it or not.  I finally gambled on the one above that was either going to be predominantly navy blue and red or black and magenta.  I figured I could work with it either way.  

I worried that, coming from India, my quilt would take forever to arrive and I was super anxious to see it in person, but it showed up on my doorstep within a week.  What arrived was more on the black/magenta side, but it has so many other colors in it that it works in my space and I LOVE it.  

It is the perfect accent piece from which I can pull coordinating colors and patterns for throw pillows and other accessories in bedroom and adjoining bathroom.  Just for your viewing interest, here are a few other quilts I considered before settling on my black one:

 

{images via Beeing Gypsy -- this is the Etsy shop where I purchased my quilt.}

What do you think?  Have you heard of Kantha quilts before?  I’m kind of in love with them right now.

Have a great day, friends!
Amy