Centro de Mesa

About a month before we left Santiago, Geneen contracted with a family to have a centro de mesa (table runner) made. Maribel and Ingri work at the hospital, and have been friends of ours since shortly after we arrived. Geneen and Maribel picked out the threads, choosing colors that Geneen felt best represent Santiago.

Their house is like other houses in Santiago, in that you enter the courtyard, and there are several rooms that open into it. María, the mother, sits in the courtyard and weaves much of the time. Her daughter Betty embroiders for a living.

María spends a week weaving our cloth. She weaves the old way, using a ceiling hook or post, and a strap that goes around her back.

The cloth is then sent to a woman who draws the figures that will be embroidered. Geneen has asked for hummingbirds drinking nectar, a design frequently seen on the clothing here.

Betty's part lasts a few weeks. Shortly before we left, we picked up the finished product, and were more than satisfied with the quality.