AAQ Blog Archive » Georgia

Georgian Applique Quilt

site admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 18:29:05 +0000

This is a quilt from the Tusheti region (northeast) of Georgia in the village Dartlo. It was made by Sido Chabukaidze to hang on the wall of her home. It is now in the care of her son Tengiz Miszashvili in Tbilisi. It was an amazing find of Nino Kipshidze’s in response to my plea to find old Georgian quilts. It was made in the early 20th century. It was displayed for the first time in Tbilisi alomg side the quilts of Gee’s Bend. I’ve been told that there are more of these quilts in Tusheti and it my hope and dream to go to the region and document these quilts before they disappear. I hope you agree with me that the world does need to see and have the opportunity to appreciate them. Karen

The Silk Roads

site admin — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 15:06:00 +0000

I am just beginning to research the silk roads. The first thing I have learned was it was roads not one road. There is a map of the silk route in the Silk Museum in Georgia. I now understand more fully Nino’s comment about it being incorrect. In the beginning the silk road also had a lot to do with not only silk but jade. The subject is far more complicated than I ever imagined too. We’re talking about thousands of years of history, a huge geographical spread, complicated by the rise and fall of very distinct civilizations with their own languagers and scripts, some of which are still only half-deciphered. This is going to take me a while but I find myself excited beyond words. If you are interested in learning more, please let me know and I’ll continue to share as I know right now this is not very quilt related. Thanks, Karen

I am indeed home

site admin — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 05:15:48 +0000

Re-entry is always difficult for me. I happy to be home but miss Georgia. I never accomplish all that I want to accomplish and returning means a tremendous amount of catching up. I must admit this time was easier but I have emails continually asking when I will return. I am working on a mostly quilt exhibition. Can’t share any details yet but promise I will. I have found that I do love curating exhibitions. I can share that the American Embassy in Georgia is going to have a quilt calendar for next year. It will have the quilts I took in the spring from Gee’s Bend and the quilts of Georgia! I am thrilled. Thank you Tinwood for agreeing to let them us the images for the calendar. It’s not for sale but hopefully it will continue to spread the word and elevate the work. All the best, Karen

McDonald’s

site admin — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 16:52:46 +0000

There are two McDonald’s in Tbilisi. One is three stories and the other is two. I walk by the three story one almost daily. It doesn’t look at all like our McDonald’s but the smell that comes from it is the same. I understand when the three story and first one was being built there were protesters but now it is just a part of the landscape and always busy. My son who is not a fan of fast food but always asked if I had gone inside. He visited on in Ireland and loved that he could buy beer. Keti and I were out walking on Sunday and I suggested that we go inside and buy french fries. Georgian potatoes are extremely tasty and I’ve been told that the McDonald’s french fries are quite good. The menu did not appear to have anything different (it was all in Georgian but the pictures were the same as the US) except for the smiles for free. Keti ordered for me but discovered she couldn’t remember the Georgian word for french fries. Soon we were all laughing and the boy behind the counter helped us out. He knew the word! Ketchup is not free but since I am not a fan of ketchup, there was no need. I was amazed at how good the fries tasted. Curiosity satisfied and I feel no need to return. Karen

School Daze

site admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 02:22:25 +0000

My first day in Georgia was the first day of school. Helen, Keti’s younger sister, and I had a running joke for my time there about when she was suppose to be in school. The first day she went on time (9:30) only to not have anyone else show up until 11. Second day she went a little later and so on until Friday when she had a day off. Teachers are not paid much in Georgia so apathy is high. This is particularly event when you walk past university only to find the students outside talking. Keti said that even at her university with a class of 15 only five of them showed up for class. Now understand that if you don’t pass your exams at the end, you have to pay AND you won’t be able to get a good job. This does not seem to occur to anyone until it is too late. I can only hope that this will change soon. I know this is particularly tough on my well educated friends. Karen

What was your dream before you stopped dreaming?

site admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 03:38:57 +0000

Georgia has taught me at least two things. Quiltmaking has power. Hope is fragile. For 13 years, Tata had a beautiful home with a wonderful garden. Her husband had a good job. All this has changed. Her husband lost his job with the wine company due to cutbacks. They were forced to move from their home into a three room place provided for them by a relative. Gone is the sewing place. Gone is even a living room. Looking at Tata you would not know this for she is always laughing and appears very happy. You have to look closely to see the stress. She bites her nails and smokes too much. However, get her behind a sewing machine and watch everything bad in life disappear. People ask me why I spend so much of my money and time here. Hope. I can’t not provide the much needed hope. Hope of making money, of providing a creative outlet, of better things to come. Karen

Crushed Down and Pushed Under the Pillow

site admin — Sun, 09 Oct 2005 06:52:53 +0000

My friend, Nata, is an interesting woman. The title is one of her favorite sayings which makes us all laugh. Last night she took me to the ballet. Georgia use to have a world class ballet but it disappeared. Their most famous ballerina worked for the Moscow Ballet but she has returned to Georgia so now the Opera House is the Opera and Ballet House. Last night I saw “Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Leah.” “Midsummer..” was choreographed by Trey McIntyer. I know Trey’s work from his days in Houston. Again the world is a small place. Anyway, the troup is young. One boy is only 13 and he is from Moscow. He was quite impressive. The lead ballerina is only 20. And while the performance reflected the young age of the group (they have only been together one year), I was impressed. Another magical night in Georgia. Hugs, Karen

It is a Small World

site admin — Sat, 08 Oct 2005 05:10:34 +0000

Yesterday was a good day of lots of work. The group is putting together a fiber book to give as a gift. The personality of each person is coming through. I am excited about their work. We were gearing down when in walked Andrea Harris from the Eurasia Foundation. We had a great talk and she is now on board to help the Silk Museum. Then in walked Lee Hardisty from the U.S. She has befriended my group. She has been here since March. Her husband works for BP. I seems that we have been neighbors many times over the years in both Illinois and Texas but only met here. It is indeed a small world! Karen

Quilting Workshop

site admin — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 13:33:25 +0000

Today I taught the quilt group free motion quilting. Lela caught on right away. I think she will dazzle the entire world with her quilts very soon. I am amazed at how far she has come in just two short years with limited resources. She does her own thing and it is wonderful! For many of the others, it did not come as easily and so I chanted, “Practice, practice, practice!” They have also begun a book for the Plainfield Quilt Guild in Plainfield, Illinois to show their appreciation for the sewing machines. They are a generous and appreciative group. Tomorrow I will show them more. It was a good day and it stopped raining before we had to walk to the studio. Tonight I am going to visit a feltmaker that is making felt that is suppose to be very much like a painting. It will be good to spend some time with Nino. We have hardly talked and I miss her. I can’t believe I only have three more days left and I will be returning home. Time moves so quickly here. Karen

Reminders of Times Past

site admin — Tue, 04 Oct 2005 15:54:15 +0000

The workshops are going well. I had a brief reminder of times past when suddenly in the middle of the surface design workshop we found ourselves without water! Fortunately there were buckets of saved water for the toilet in the bathroom to tide us over and in less than an hour it was back on. In the evening when we returned, the lift was not working. After a very long day, we had to walk with to the ninth floor to the apartment. I knew I had my Georgian legs again because it was not a problem. Today I wanted to make large works using Georgian bleach (not as strong as ours) outside. It began to rain. Fall has come to Tbilisi. Fortunately, the hard rain held off until we were finished. It was also another calm day of good work. Everyone left happy and pleased with their work. I was happy because most everyone was working and planning not just quickly rushing through their work. Now I must wait and see if the seeds I have planted will bear fruit. Paka, Karen