monkey hands

More Images: Mongolian Quilters and the "Black Market"

Mongolian Quilters and the "Black Market" in Ulaanbaatar:

Selenge Tserendash, founder and director of Mongolian Quilters,  and her daughter, Aryuka. Selenge studied law in Japan and is fond of Japanese food, as am I, so I took my gracious hosts out for sushi and tempora one night (Japanese is Selenge's third language, and English is her fourth!). 

Dressing (and talking to) a new doll

I love the southwest-colored shipping crates that surround the black market

playing cards amongst a traditional furniture vendor's "shop"

Housewares in the Black Market, Ulaanbaatar

Stainless steel and plastic wares

steaming hot goat head--easy to carry from home for lunch at work

lunch break

Cheers! Aryuka attends a science-intense high school in Ulaanbaatar; she plans to go on to medical school after graduation.

 

Shopping at the "Black Market" in Ulaanbaatar

I love the colors, the textures, the sounds and the smells.

Today, here's a look at some of the fabric stalls. Tomorrow (or the next day) I'll show photos of some of the other things the market has to offer. It's an amazing experience!

Sign marking a fabric shop

shooting pool outside the market

a stall with rabbits for sale

people selling wares on the market periphery

Selenge of Mongolia Quilters (red coat) entering the fabric part of the market

Selenge negotiates

Selenge loading her Prius. At night the wares are stored in these colorful shipping containers.

Back from Mongolia

I'm back in Beijing after another good trip to Ulaanbaatar. I brought a sewing machine and converter, taught a bird-making workshop, and worked on the new website with the organization's founder and current director, Selenge Tserendash. More info and pictures forthcoming! 

The center workspace is too small, and women have to work in day on, day off shifts.

Sometimes small and not-so-small children accompany their mothers or grandmothers.

 

Hand Work for Mongolia

As the storm rages along the U.S. east coast, I am leaving for the airport to head to Ulaanbaatar. My thoughts are with my family, and yours, and everyone affected. I'm glad I have a serious distraction to keep me busy now, though of course my children and other family members will be in my constant thoughts.

After cutting boiled wool birds to take to Ulaanbaatar for the workshop this week, I noticed the scraps were fish-shaped.

and perfect for the over-the-ocean-back-to-China phase of the diary cloth I'm making as part of Jude Hill's Spirit Diary Cloth online course at Spirit Cloth. Jude's an inspiring teacher, and her classes and the communities that develop are nurturing as well as challenging. I'n not sure if big fish will make it onto the cloth--looks more like a whale to me, but maybe that's okay. Once I get stitching, the needle seems to take over and guide the way. The moon in the corner is a "Glennis moon," indigo dyed by the famous Shibori Girl herself. 

I've been adding some kantha style stitching to the cacti and wings--it was hard to leave family and that incredible sunny big Southwest sky.

Packing for Mongolia

click for larger image

     While Hurrican Sandy is pummeling the U.S. east coast, I am preparing to return to Ulaanbaator for another visit, this time to work on the website (published in process--Mongolian Quilts ), offer a bird-making workshop, and bring supplies.

     I have family members up and down the coastal area, including two children in NYC, one just a block from the evacuation border in Brooklyn, as well as my 90 year old mother-in-law. I also have a son in southern New Hampshire,  my husband and I both have brothers and their families in the affected areas (Wash. D.C., Virginia, North Carolina), so I will be watching from afar, and hoping for the best for everyone.

     Side note: The walking boot is "just in case," and the Japanese masks are the best I've found for filtering soot and heavy metal pollution.

More Dolls and Mongolia

             

Mongolian dolls made by quilting group members--great Ghenghis Khan inspired faces!

Selenge, her daughter and mother in the quilt shop; they were great hosts and fine company. I'm eager to return.

A new doll gets hair

                                Partially restored Summer Palace in Ulaanbaatar, "Big Sky" country!

Selenge picked me up from the airport in her Prius (just like the one I drive at home except for the language).  I'm working with her to set up a website for the project.  www.mongolianquilts.org 

Home

I arrived at my home in New Hampshire around 2:30am and dozed for a bit, waking to see the sun climb over the treetops

bringing this blue daybreak, geese on the pond singing good morning, and

this great travel narrative (Mongolia!) from Carol of Quilt Fever. Thank you, Carol! What generous gifts in all respects.  I'm home for a couple weeks, then on the road again. More on Mongolia soon.  

Mongolian Quilt Center

This is the facade of the small shop and workshop where I spent some lovely days teaching skilled quilters how to make two types of small dolls from mostly upcycled materials (photos of inside the shop coming soon).

Doll-makers in action! Clothes will be made from silk scraps donated by a supportive local tailor. The quilts and quilted items--pillow-covers, bags, wall-hangings--are also made from donated materials.

Delight as dolls gain personality and "come to life"  with hair, eyes, nose, mouth! 

view from room in Ulaanbaatar

another view from room

Itinerant Doll-Maker

I've made dolls with people in the U.S., in India, in China, and now, in Mongolia. It seems to me that people are drawn to dolls and doll-making because dolls are made in our own human image. Creating a doll in a mixed-language group helps create a common language -- two eyes, one nose, one mouth, two arms, and so on.  We are so much more alike than we are different. 

                            These are just a few of the talented quilters I worked with in Ulaanbaatar. 

I brought this doll, upcycled from a sock and scraps of fabric, as a model for one of the dolls I'd be teaching the group to make. It was met with sighs of, "Oh, how Chinese!" and "That is a Chinese doll."  Yes, that makes sense, as she was made by me in China with Chinese materials.

                                                                       Newly made Mongolian dolls! 

 

A Few More

a little community on the hill--folks stay here through late September or early October, then it gets so cold they move a few kilometers to a larger village where the gers (what we call yurts) and small houses are closer together to survive the winter.  Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital city in the world. Here is a site with more info and pictures: Gers

Even in mid-August, the day was fairly cool and rain threatened, hence the greyer than usual skies in "Blue Sky" country (taking photos with my phone didn't add to the image quality).

I am fond of horses. At one point we had five in our little New Hampshire barn, but now we have none.

Basically the same image as above, but I was creeping closer, trying to get a better shot without spooking the horses.