Handmade quilt by women in San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Description
Tidal Wave was made by Mercedes. It is a gorgeous two colored design and has a super soft white velvet backing.
Mercedes is what we here in the states would call a "jack of all trades". I have never seen a woman have so many ways to make money! Before the pandemic hit I would see her pushing her stroller with her youngest son all over town as she sold baleadas to guards and workers all over the city. Then as her son got to be a little older I would see her with him teetering on the center bar of her bike as she rode around town making deliveries.
Mercedes has all four of her children living at home and also her mother and two nieces that were abandoned at her home. Here is a little of the biography she wrote about herself.
"I grew up in a village in San Luis, Santa Barbara, Honduras. My parents are very poor and that's why they couldn't give me an education. I was only in 6th grade when I left school the first time.
When I turned 15, with pain in my soul, I had to leave my family and move to the city and I went to work. I worked as a babysitter and I took care of children. I also enrolled in a school to continue my studies. I managed to get to the 8th grade, but then I could not continue because of my work. I had to help my family with my younger siblings and send them money, and I was old for an 8th grader and did not fit in."
Read more about Mercedes on our "Get to Know Our Makers" page on the website.
Materials
High-quality thread, flannel fabrics for quilt top, minky or velvet fabric backing. This quilt is made with a very thick fabric which makes it a weighted quilt.
Dimensions
51" x 53"
Predominant Colors
Blue Solid with White and Multi Color Hexagons; White Velvet backing
Beautifully hand-stitched hexagon quilt. Majority of fabric is donated and proceeds employ women living in poverty in the "bordos" of San Pedro Sula, Honduras