Valley Fiber Life Blog

Marcia Young just wrote a really nice article about me on her blog:

http://www.valleyfiberlife.com

The Last of the Spring Photos

Ok. This is the end of the Spring photos. I so often seem to be out of town for these few beautiful weeks so this is a treat for me. I have some wonderful flowering quince bushes right outside my front door. In the fall they have fruit the size of lemons. Not edible unfortunately. And my yard is full of these pretty blue flowers.

We call this the cherry pit tree. For the first ten years I lived here I didn't know what kind of cherries it produced as the birds swooped in and I was left with the ground littered with pits and no cherries. I finally found half a cherry one year and discovered it was a sweet cherry tree.

The blossoms on the magnolia tree are quite skimpy this year. The tree lost half its limbs in an ice storm a few years ago but has recovered.

Bugs in my Belfry and Spring

I began this quilt which I am calling "Bugs in my Belfry" in a class with Jane Sassaman at QSDS during June, 2008. The bugs are fused. The edge is really a fairly bright lime green. I only need to line and bind it and another UFO bites the dust. In the meantime Spring has finally settled in and my cat is happy now that the dining room screen door is open for her outside perusal.

And the bulbs in the front yard all seem to have come up and bloomed.

Orange Quilt

Yesterday evening was spent quilting this piece I made during "down time" at Quilting in the Desert in January. It is mainly composed of pieces left over from a quilt I made during Spring Fling at Genesee Valley Quilt Guild in the Spring of 2008. I quilted it with invisible thread. One more UFO bites the dust.

Mystery Quilt

In April 2008 I attended the Lancaster Quilt Show in Pennsylvania and took a one day Mystery Quilt Class with Kimberly Einmo. Since it was a mystery quilt you could only choose fabrics based on instructions for a certain amount of fabric in "lights and darks" and so on. The green/yellow fabric is hand dyed fabric from Judy of Just Imagination. The rest of the fabrics are batiks. Am I happy with it? I am happy that the top is finished but if I had had the pattern first I would have made other choices. And taking photographs is a good idea. When I took this one I noticed that one of the blocks was wrong and had to do a bit of ripping out. Ah.....This is a lot better.

Panajachel and Santiago Atitlan Guatemala

Back in Panajachel on Fridays there is a local huipil market in front of the Fire Department on the road to Solola. There are usually at least half a dozen women there with their huipils and weavings spread out on the concrete.
Usually I find the huipils to be either too expensive, or too faded after being out in the sun for too many sales. But every once in awhile I find something interesting. This trip I bought a black background huipil in a design I had never seen before.

And, of course, after all my hard work it was time for a banana split.

As I was sitting in the ice cream shop at the top of Santander, the main street I noticed three locals going by weighted down with bundles of wood they obviously were taking to sell somewhere. Now...they had to have walked down from the surrounding hills somewhere with those heavy loads.

The next day I took the boat to Santiago Atitlan, the town where they make my favorite bird huipils.

The town is becoming more and more crowded with shops selling to tourists.

A new church.

The women are busy working on their embroidery in front of their shop.

The town also has some great wood carvers and painters.

Our friend Robert whom we have known for several years.

This poodle was accompanying two young boys on the trip back to Panajachel.

This made me very nervous. The two young boys (who apparently didn't have an adult with them) were hanging out the bow of the boat. One slip and they would be under the boat toward the propeller.

Mayan Famalies Project:

For some time I have been looking for a local Guatemalan group which focuses on quilting or sewing to do some volunteer work with. Over the years we have routinely taken suitcases full of school supplies for the local schools, usually in Santiago Atitlan but I really would have preferred something textile oriented. I found a quilting group in Antigua but since I don't go there very often anymore that wasn't going to work. Three days before I left on this trip I discovered a wonderful group in Panajachel, where I usually spend a week every year. I contacted them and found they could use fabric in their projects. I took a suitcase full for them and plan to fill two for them next year when I have more time to organize.

They have a number of projects going...including buying stoves (to cut down the use of wood and subsequently stripping the forests), semana santa baskets to provide food, and arranging sponsorship for students in several local schools.

The web page is www.mayanfamilies.org

The one which I was most interested in was the Panajachel Sewing Project- 94 adult female students have completed the Mayan Families 3 month Sewing Skills Course. Many of these students have developed home based businesses with their new skills. I found while talking with one of the directors on my trip that each student receives their sewing machine when they complete the course so they need machines as well.

Chichicastenango Part Four

The market begins to come to life. A big surprise was a new museum right on the second floor of my hotel! A typical clothing from this area.

The area is also noted for its mask makers.

A confradia outfit.

Their hat, staff and special shoes that are made to order and only they can wear.

Typical women's clothing from the area.

Shamans candles and utensils. You can see shamans at work in the Santo Tomas church.

It is a wonderful museum and I was given an excellent guided tour.

Herbs used by shamans

There were also weavings for sale. Mostly from Nebaj,

The stalls in front of the hotel entrance are now in full swing.
And the streets are busy and crowded with shoppers and tourists.

At the edge of the market the tuk tuks wait for fares.

Chichicastenango Part Three

The women are beginning to set up the flower stalls on the Church of Santo Tomas. I usually "splash out" and eat at least one meal at the beautiful Hotel Santo Tomas. I would love to stay here but it is always booked out with tour groups before market. The rooms and gardens and passageways are beautifully decorated. The main dining room. On market days they also set up tables in the courtyard.

I usually opt for pancakes. With fresh fruit, fruit juice and tea it fills me up for a busy market day. They always also give me a basket of toast. I have no idea how anyone could eat that much.

There are huge vases of fresh cala lillies in the courtyard.

The parrots who usually inhabit the perches weren't around.

The view of the courtyards from the entrance.

A beautiful plaque by the front door.

Chichicastenango Part 2

There are beautiful murals on the outside walls of the Municipal Palace facing the square.
The Popol Vuh was discovered in the Monastary next door to the Santo Tomas Church. The church and monastary were founded in 1542.

The inside courtyard.

Mourning the people lost in the uprisings against the government during the 1980's

Weavers of Peace.

A Confradia. The town's religious life is centered in traditional religious brotherhoods known as confradias. Membership in the brotherhood is an honorable civic duty and election as leader is the greatest honor. Leaders must provide banquets and pay for festivities for the contradia throughout his term. Though it is very expensive a confradia happily accepts the burden, Even going into debt if necessary. Each of Chichi's 14 confradias has a patron saint. The most notable is the confradia of Santo Tomas. Confradias march in procession to church every Sunday morning and during religious festivals with the officers dressed in costumes showing their rank. I have seen them in Chichi, in Solola and in San Cristobal de las Casas in Mexico.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all those clothes in the Salvation Army and Goodwill that don't sell after a reasonable period of time? They are sold in bulk to people who ship them to third world countries where they are sold.

Beginning the setting up process in the street just in front of my hotel. Across the street is an ice cream parlor with banana splits.