A Week in Panajachel, Guatemala

Another great week in Panajachel, Guatemala. As usual I stayed at the wonderful Posado de las Volcanes. One morning I came out to what I thought was a woman's voice saying "Hola" (hello) and it turned out to be this beautiful parrot!

Lunch at a local vegetarian restaurant. I have to be occasionally good to make up for all the pancakes and cheesecake I eat here, as well as banana splits.

The second day I took the trip across the Lake to Santiago Atitlan.

While the lake looks peaceful here the wind came up and it was a really really bumpy ride in a small boat.

Guatemalan Rule #14. Don't cross the lake when its windy and wavy.

Guatemalan Rule #15. If you ignore Rule 14, don't try it with an open soda can.

My favorite huipils are made in this village, almost all containing bird motifs. I also purchase many of my beads from the women in this village who make the jewelry.
A family friend named Bob. My son in law used to sponsor him in school. He is now 26 and married with two children. His wife now makes beaded jewelry.
I bought this one. Its machine embroidered but absolutely beautifully done. The work is done on a treadle machine.
Part of the weekday market in Santiago Atitlan.

Sewing Day at Marcia's Studio

Marcia asked me to bring a few of the pieces which I recently purchased in Guatemala. This is a machine embroidered huipil and a beauty. From Santiago Atitlan.
This is a handwoven piece which is then embroidered. its woven in two parts and then sewn together.
A similar pieces but with fewer animals.

This huipil was hand embroidered. A dying art in this village.

A machine embroidered huipil but so vibrant that I couldn't resist.

The orange fabric is a light weight treadle woven piece. The one above was a very soft feeling hand woven piece with rayon embroidery. And to the right was a weaving with fringe ends which would make a good jacket back.

Suki was trying to amuse herself now that she is cooped in so much because of the weather.

Exploring bags is always fun.

And then there's the suitcase I keep my featherweight sewing machine in.

And finally later in the afternoon she gave up and took a nap in her "tunnel".


I spent the day trying to finish up the seminole border for the GVQC raffle quilt. It is almost finished.

And Marcia worked on a quilt she started in a workshop a few weeks ago.

As well as a couple of other ones in progress.

Trip to Santiago Atitlan- Across the Lake

I always enjoy taking a few hours to visit Santiago Atitlan across the lake from Panajachel. It means a very enjoyable boat trip and a chance to at least see some of my favorite huipils. The women in this village decorate them with glorious birds of every description. They also used to decorate the mens pants which were made of the same fabric and about the length of pedal pushers. I don't see so many men's decorations lately. Originally the birds were all hand embroidered. Now they are mostly sewn by machine but the work is absolutely phenomenal. Some years I am not even able to purchase any huipils that I like as they are getting more and more expensive.

Some of the women huipil sellers waiting for me to leave a booth. The town is becoming more and more commercial with new booths being built every year. In addition to the huipils people sell beautiful wood carvings, beaded jewelry and paintings. It was nice to see the women wearing their traditional headgear. This year I was lucky and able to purchase a few huipils
The dock.
Closeup of the headgear. This woman was on the cover of a book when she was a child. Now she is in her 20's with a son.
Two of the huipils which I purchased:


This beauty was embroidered by machine on the usual hand woven cotton huipil base.
The workmanship is fantastic considering that the women do this without digitalized patterns or anything.



The back is similar to the front.



$ 109 plus $8.95 postage

The second huipil is also made on handwoven cloth but this one is hand embroidered. The white line on the front is my label not a flaw.

Hand embroidered pieces are becoming a rarity as so many women switch to machines.

The back is essentially the same as the front.

$ 59.00 plus $8.95 postage.

SOLD

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.