Gaudiest

I mentioned earlier this week that my boss had a bet on about how gaudy a shawl had to be before I wouldn't wear it. Well, this one comes close. The main color is gold, but all the other colors are also metallic, the fuchsia and the green and the purple. I have worn it, but only for a holiday party (at work) and only while I was at the party itself; not on the way to or from.



I do love the fringe though! It's four layers deep! This is the kind of work you do when your mind is else where, and it takes a long time! But that detail really makes a difference.



I took the workshop this week at my Homewood guild, and I'm in love with how the project turned out. This is paper piecing over cardboard, and it makes a darling little basket. The blue one is finished with a beaded picot edging.



I think this one looks like a flower in this picture. The edging on this one is blanket stitch. These baskets are little, just about the right size to hold a thimble, so I thought I would start sharing my thimble collection too. I was going to call it "Thimble Thursday" but it's Friday.



I hope you will forgive me. I got this thimble this past summer on my trip to North Carolina. I had heard of the Cherokee "Trail of Tears" but I had never made the connection that it started in North Carolina. The thimble isn't authentic (I'm pretty sure it was made in China) but it has served the purpose of making me aware of some of the sadder history of our country.

Today is Blog Action Day against poverty, and I thought I would try to participate. I've been looking around the web, and there are tons of sites where you can get "fair trade" textiles from around the world. The label "fair trade" means the artisans are paid a living wage for their work, and there are no sweatshops or forced labor. I must admit that most of the things I've gotten from the Internet were not labeled "fair trade." That doesn't necessarily mean someone is getting exploited, I know that Guatemalan "molas" have a known value, and the same is true of a lot of other handwork around the world.

From Nepal, silk yarn


Zimbabwe Twin Dolls

Organic Cotton Veggie toys from Egypt

Laotian Raw Silk Scarf

Guatemalan hand-woven shirt

Hmong magazine pocket from Vietnam

Hmong wall hanging from Vietnam

Embroidered Jacket from Nepal

Embroidered jewelry box from Thailand

Felt necklace from Nepal

Nepalese bags

Indian scarves

Panamanian Mola

Peruvian Arpillera

eBay has a new division as well. It looks very interesting: http://worldofgood.ebay.com/home

Have fun shopping! and "do good"!

Shawl from India

This is another shawl from India. This picture does not give a clear idea at all of what it looks like. The gold in this shawl is like blending filament: very shiny. It's not something you can wear and remain inconspicuous.



My former boss, who brought it from India for me, had a bet on with himself as to whether I would wear it. I did, so he decided he needed to get something gaudier! Stay tuned!