laurac

i took a vacation to guatemala and fell in love with their native dress, the decorative tops, just covered in embrodiery, lots of it hand done. birds, flowers, geometrics, etc.
we found a place with used pieces very affordable and i bought a bunch of that and the woven pieces they use for wrap skirts.
now i'm scared to act on them! i need to figure out how to pick a pattern to best use them and get brave enough to cut them.
there is a website called nim pots that shows some piecing they've done and some of the embrodiery designs.
does anybody have any experiences with this or any suggestions?

ckcowl

you could simply frame the blocks of embroidery with a coordinating (or contrasting) fabric-then piece them- you could do a medallian style quilt with a large embroidery as a center- surrounded by smaller ones-again framed to pull them all together-
lay them out-with some fabric (samples) between to see what looks good for sashing- or framing-
embroidered blocks framed and pieced make wonderful quilts.

RedGarnet222

A warm wishes quilt pattern might be a good choice for these.

jaciqltznok

in Alaska there was lady that brought back tons of skirts/tops and she used them in a quilt! Very stunning and a great memory quilt!

lfstamper

I have some reverse turn blocks from Guatemala that are across the top of my design wall. I love looking at the bright colors and beautiful stitches. I will eventually frame them.

willferg

I made a baby blanket for my niece who was adopted from Guatemala. I just used a whole piece and backed it with fleece, though, I didn't try piecing it.

smcfadden

Aren't the huipiles gorgeous! I brought back some scraps too, but haven't sewn them yet. I think they'd be amazingly beautiful in a crazy quilt.

TanyaL

Priscilla Bianchi has written a book about quilting with the hand woven fabrics from Guatemala. It is called Caliente Quilts. She has shown her quilts in several museums and private showings. They are beautiful. The book is for sale on "Amazon.

laurac

thanks for the ideas.
i've been out of town (and the country) again so i was slow in thanking you all. (traveling is my other big hobby!)
i think my main problem is my fear of cutting into them. i think i'll try to visualize it as being like scuba diving, i'm always apprehensive before i get under the water and then under the water i am facinated, amazed and having fun.