I had the privilege of spending two weeks in Thailand with a Mission Team from my church. While there are not quilt shops in Thailand, there are open air markets that have some wonderful finds. I wanted to detour from North America to share some of these with all of you.
We were in north eastern Thailand near the border with Burma (Myanmar), working with a tribal group called the Karen People, pronounced “Kaa- rin”. We went to the Border Market with the young ladies from House of Grace, a residence house for high school girls that we support. Most students board locally, as the walk from their villages is too far for a daily commute.
Pictured above are woven fabrics used to make their tribal dress. I am still trying to find out if they are cotton – if so, I will have some for quilts next year! The flowered lace trimmed ones are the dressier version. The skirt is basically a tube, wrapped and folded back on itself and tucked at the waste to give walking room. They are about two meters of fabric, so would work well for quilts as long as the weave is not too loose. I will have to experiment, but I couldn’t resist taking pictures of the wonderful colors and patterns to share with you.
The flat packs are the real find. They are two meters (about 79″) by 44 inches of batik, generally as a border print so they can be used as a wrap skirt. You need to be careful – some are stamped rather than true batik – but they also come with gold highlights. The two I have purchased are shown below. At about $4.50 each, I could get in real trouble with these if I had extra room in my suitcase!!
If you ever have the opportunity to go to Thailand, be sure to check out the markets for these lovely fabrics. Stop back on Monday – the North American Shop Hop will be back in the United States. Come and see where!