Textiles

Fish Wallhanging

When we were in Cuenca I saw a poster for an exhibition entitled Abya Yala Awaykuna - Tejidos de America - Textiles of America.  The first language is Kichwa, the indigenous language of the Amerindians of Ecuador (called Quechua in other parts of South America).  When in Quito we visited this exhibition, which was arranged by a lady who works with indigenous communities in the Riobamba area.  She had some of their weavings for sale, and I couldn't resist this one!
Woven Cintra

The cintra is a woven belt which is wrapped around the waist and whose function is to keep up the skirt.  They come in many different designs, from the very simple to the more complex.  This one has figures from the myths of the Andean people.  I understand that in the Azugay region of Ecuador, in the south, these are made using the ikat technique, so I'll have a look for them the next time I'm in Cuenca.

Ecuadorian Embroidery 1

Of the same technique as the small embroidery I bought in Cuenca, this is a breadbasket cover, of the same shape as the one I bought in Viana do Castelo in Portugal.  It is worked in satin stitch, chain stitch, lazy daisy and stem stitch.  These are not the traditional colours of Ecuadorian Embroidery, but I thought it more elegant!  The background fabric is cotton, and the edge has been first overlocked and then a crocheted picot edging has been done by hand.

I bought this one, and the one below, in the mercardo artesanal in the Plaza Grande in Otavalo - otherwise known as poncho Plaza.  The craft market in Otavalo is renowned throughout Ecuador as THE place to buy handcrafted products.
Ecuadorian Embroidery 2

Another breadbasket cover, but this time traditional colours are used.  On the same stall in the mercardo artesanal in Otavalo were a wide variety of tablelinens and clothing, all embroidered with the same technique.  Had I lived in a house, I think my pocket would have been seriously depleted.  

Ecuadorian Embroidery 3

This embroidery is done on a coarsely-woven wool, and all of the embroidery is chain stitch.  This is a picture of a mythical being from Andean legend and each of the patterns represents a different aspect of the being.  Unfortunately, the lady from whom I bought this had only a smattering of Spanish, her first language being Quichua, so although we chatted for some time, I couldn't quite get to the bottom of the aspects.
Cuenca Embroidery

Cuenca is a centre for traditional embroidery in Ecuador, but unfortunately I didn't get to any of their workshops.

This card is an example of Cuenca embroidery, with straight stitch, french knots, stem stitch and bullion knots, cotton thread on a white cotton background.

Ecuadorian Weaving

I really like the exotic birds which are woven here; they remind me of the quetzel in the Aztec myths, but I haven't researched them yet to find out where the ideas came from.

This one was bought in Riobamba at the mercado artesanal.
Andy's Bag

Whilst in Baños, Andy bought this bag to keep his books in when we go to our Spanish classes in La Libertad.  This photograph doesn't really do justice to the subtlety of the colours and the delicate shading from purple to pale pink.  Like my bag, it is woven with a cotton warp and woollen weft, and is lined with calico to help keep its shape.

When we visited the Parque Historico in Guayaquil, I was struck by several pieces of patchwork which were displayed in the bedrooms. This coverlet was in the main bedroom of the plantation house.  It is made of mixed cotton fabrics, mostly squares but some half-square triangles.  I asked the guide if patchwork was common in Ecuador and he replied that it was.  Now there's a line of research to pursue!

There was a second coverlet in one of the other bedrooms, but I could not get a good photograph of it.
This coverlet was thrown over the bed in the home of the campesino, or peasant farmer.  The floor and walls of the house are made of split bamboo, the matress of the bed is straw.  The coverlet was made of mixed cottons and satins, some printed and some plain, machine-sewn together and with a border of patterned polycotton. 

Patchwork in the House of the Campesino

Ecuadorian Mat

 Whilst we were buying Andy's alpaca sweater in Puerto Lopez, I spied this mat behind the other items.  To me it is typical of the geometric patterns which we've seen on a number of museum items.  It is hand-framed and the photo does not really do justice to the subtlety of the colours.  It's about 24 inches long by 18 inches wide, alpaca wool with cotton warp.

I wondered if the dyes used were natural or synthetic and if so, what was used?  The problem is, as I said to Milton in Agua Blanca, "Tengo muchas preguntas, pero no conoco las palabras por preguntarles".  I've got a lot of questions, but don't know the words to ask them.  The colours remind me of those in Jacobean crewel work, when woad, weld and the like were used in dyes.
I bought this bag in a shop in La Libertad, but saw many more both there and in the craft market in Guayaquil.  The warp is a strong cotton thread, whilst the weft is a wool-mix yarn.   I have seen bags made using a similar technique in the Greek Islands and remember making one when I was at Digby Stuart College as part of my textiles course there.  I want to get one of the geometric patterned ones, too.

I find myself wondering about some of the "local" craft items, recalling what Mum told me once about someone who had purchased a "Bantu" blanket somewhere in South Africa, only to find a label marked "Made in Birmingham" on the inside.  They're not made in Birmingham any more, but in China.  The molá of the Kuna Indians is still made by the Kuna women, but I found some cheater cloth - cotton printed to look like molá - in a shop in Colón, which had "Printed in China" on the selvedge.

Ecuadorian Woven Bag and Purse
This four-layer molá in a traditional geometric design is further embellished with embroidery and appliqué.  The layers are red, black, yellow and green

The molá on the left would appear to be rather controversial, until one reads that this symbol was a traditional Kuna motif which appeared on the flag designed when they achieved autonomy in 1924.  These are three-layer molá with red as the base layer, yellow in the centre and black on top, and once formed part of a blouse.
Here are some more molá that I bought from a lady called Lola.  She and I have conversations in my limited Spanish, but she showed me how she made the molá.  The two below are quite old and are unusual in have a background fabric of patterned cloth - black with tiny blue flowers.   In general, the back and front molá are complementary, but not necessarily the same. The stitches are incredibly tiny and the work is quite faded.  They are from the front and back of one of Lola's blouses.  The one on the right is an appliqué picture.   This is more of a tourist molá and is much quicker to make.  Fish and birds are the most popular of these molá.  I'm going to get another of these and make them into a bag.

Birds in Cages

Medicine Man

Molá

The San Blas Islands lie of Panama’s Caribbean coast, some 50 miles east of the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal at Colon.  The string of islands is largely protected from the ocean swell by an offshore reef, and the Kuna Indians have made their home here for centuries. 

Molá, a form of reverse appliqué with embroidered embellishment, originated in the Amerindian custom of body painting.  This was translated into cloth following the Spanish subjugation of the indigenous peoples and the Christian disapproval of nudity.  The happy coincidence of the arrival of cloth, scissors, needles and thread gave the women the opportunity to continue with their cultural tradition of the molá. 

In essence, the molá is a richly-decorated bodice, front and back, which adorns a loose blouse.  The patterns are as varied as the makers’ interests, but reflect the natural and spirit worlds which surround the islanders.  There are usually two or three basic colours, with black and orange predominant, but many different coloured pieces of fabric may be tucked behind the reverse appliqué.  The basic reverse appliqué may then be adorned with additional appliqué and embroidery, notably chain stitch.  All of the appliqué is done with tiny, closely-worked stitches, resulting in a hard-wearing piece of cloth which can be laundered many times. 

Although some molá are made purely for the tourist trade, those which have been part of a blouse may be identified by the lines of unpicked stitches where the clothing has been undone, and the slight shading where fabric has been tucked into a seam. 

Two of the molá which I purchased are both from blouses.  One depicts two birds in cages, and although this has some reverse appliqué, the majority of the embellishment is very thin appliquéd strips, with additional chain stitch embroidery.  The second has a top layer of deep aubergine, with a black middle layer and orange background.  This has much more reverse appliqué, but also appliqué and embroidery.  For example, the tiny triangles are done in reverse appliqué, then an additional triangle has been appliquéd in the centre.  This design is of a mythical being.   Both exhibit high degrees of skill and artistry – tiny stitches, exquisite chain stitch and a joyful exuberance in design. 

Embroidery in Viana do Castelo  The town of Viana do Castelo has a lively embroidery tradition, based around the costumes worn by the women at times of special festivals.  The designs are based on flowers and leaves, linked with flowing stems.  the stitches used are mostly satin stitch for the flowers, and lazy daisy and blanket stitch for the stems.  

In this example, which is a liner for a bread basket, the centre of the flower had been worked in drawn fabric, the embroidery stitches being pulled tightly to pull the threads apart to form patterms.

Traditional colours seem to be red and blue embroidery on a white background, but ecru on ecru and this burgundy on oatmeal is also popular.

 

Embroidery from Viana do Castelo

I've been working on bits and pieces of both cross stitch and patchwork since we left Blyth.  I'm continuing with my picture of magpies and honeysuckle, a Thea Gouveneur kit which I bought on impulse some time ago.  It's quite large, so I need a certain tranquility of seas to work on it.  In addition it's on 18 count Aida, using one thread of stranded cotton, so I need good light too. 

I've also started my Christmas present projects - a lot of people are going to get bookmarks!  This is partly due to Cathie Spurgeon, one of my "ladies who lunch".  Cathie collects bookmarks, so I've been sending her a few as we've progressed on our travels.

Thea Gouveneur's "Magpies and Honeysuckle"

For a long time, cross stitch was one of my passions.  I found it relieved the stresses and tensions of my daily life at work, and also gave me something beautiful at the end of it.  There is a great deal of personal satisfaction in creating something beautiful or useful.  Some people may say that cross stitch, where one may follow a pattern designed by someone else, is not a creative pastime.  However, I would argue that opera singers are regarded as creative artists, yet they don't write the music or the libretto themselves.  No one thinks any the worse of them for this omission.

Mast cover made for Coromandel Quest using foundation piecing

Shoulderbag using Sashiko embroidery

Shoulderbag with Japanese Folded Patchwork, Prairie Points and Sashiko on the Handle

I did some patchwork and quilting in the 1970s, making wholecloth cushions, a small hexagon lap quilt and a variety of patchwork cushions.  At the end of that decade I left the UK and spent some time travelling.  My patchwork got put away and didn't come out again until about seven years ago when I moved to the north east of England and joined the Quilters' Guild of the British Isles.  The Guild regions offer workshops in many different aspects of textile art and I took advantage of those whenever I could.

One of my first workshops was with Gillian Arkley, and that was when I fell in love with sashiko, a Japanese quilting technique which is usually done by hand.  I made a set of place mats and other small items.  I also enjoyed a workshop led by Freda Oxenham called "Slicing up the Circle".  I knew that I preferred hand-sewing to machine-sewing, but I later came to realise that that was because my sewing machine wasn't very good.  Yes, I know a bad workman always blames his tools, but in this instance I finally consigned it to the skip because despite several visits to sewing machine repairers, the tension continued to slip, making wads of "knitting" underneath.

Wallhanging made following the Freda Oxenham workshop, "Slicing up the Circle"

My Sampler Quilt

Sampler Quilt

In order to teach myself a wider variety of techniques, I started a sampler quilt.  This was great fun and kept me out of mischief for hours!  I finished it just before we were due to set off on our cruise.  This picture was taken before it was quilted; it now has a dark blue border and, though I say it myself, I think it's lovely!  However, no sooner was it finished than it got stuffed into a vacuum-sealed bag and put away.  Poor quilt!

These pages will show you what I'm doing as we sail along.  I've managed to reduce my stash to one box of fabrics, a small supply of aida and evenweave linen, some pieces of  wadding, one small box of embroidery threads - stranded cotton, coton a broder, perle cotton - and one small box of "notions" - all those bits and pieces you need when sewing.  I've also brought along my quilters' "briefcase", which houses my cutting map, quilters' rule, odd bits of card, about three yards of calico and some plain blue cotton for backing things.  There are four quilting books; two about sashiko, Jenni Dobon's "Kimono" and a general, all-purposes quilters' guide.  Oh, and a supply of graph paper and card to make templates.