![\"No](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/No-slouch-with-a-needle-but-....jpg?resize=450%2C338&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIn my previous post, I showed one of the two large hangings Mike and I bought on our trip in 2007; but we just couldn’t resist another! We also bought this 2m sq. wall hanging which we use as a cover on the bed in our guest bedroom here. The canvas base with all the extra fabric added, imho makes it a bit too heavy to sleep under, so I always suggest to visitors they carefully roll it back and place on a side chair, but I know some don’t mind actually sleeping under it. However, everyone comments on its beauty, and the quality of workmanship is superb:<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"spare](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/spare-bed-cover-detail-2-002.jpg?resize=450%2C300&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nBut it was instantly clear I am no match for these men who\u00a0rapidly and\u00a0rythmically hand stitch (direct applique) small pieces of cotton fabric in gorgeous designs\u00a0onto canvas weight base fabric to make the Khiamiah – the wall hangings, that traditionally lined desert tents for over 800 years.\u00a0 Today, most people don’t live in tents of course, but in houses with walls that take generally smaller hangings, and so\u00a0in adaptation to modern conditions more\u00a0smaller pieces are produced – cushion covers, table mats and runners to\u00a0wall hangings\u00a0up to\u00a0the 1m-1.25m dimensions.\u00a0\u00a0 You can see some in the background of this photo and the three principal styles – pharaonic,\u00a0abstract islamic patterns\u00a0and pictorial\u00a0scenes are represented\u00a0in this pic.\u00a0 This small shop\/gallery is just\u00a0one of the 40 or so similar small outlets on the very short Chareh El-Khiamiah, the Tentmaker street in old Cairo.. The Tentmakers who produce this amazing work have their own Facebook page, “The Tentmakers of Chareh El-Khiamiah” where you will find more information on them, and links to current and historic examples of the tentmakers’ art. An Australian film maker Kim Beamish, is currently filming footage for a full length documentary about these artists, their work, its heritage and cultural importance which is becoming better known beyond Egypt’s borders, but inside of which it is not recognised as having any importance at all – hard to believe as that is. To complete the editing and translations for this important documentary movie, a crowdfunding campaign is currently running to raise the necessary $20,000; and so far over $16,0000 has been pledged, but that still leaves almost $4000 to raise in just a few days !! If you care that the world should know of such beautiful special work, please allocate at least a few dollars on this crowdfunding site<\/em><\/span> – www.Pozible.com.au\/tentmakers\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’m no slouch with\u00a0a needle, and here I am doing a bit of\u00a0cultural exchange\/work experience!\u00a0 As many of the makers work in the shops where their works are sold, this was taken\u00a0on one of\u00a0at least\u00a0two glorious, mind boggling\u00a0‘studio visits’ along the street of the Tentmakers in Cairo, 2007. In my previous post, I showed one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6uxpF-vq","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1948"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9737,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948\/revisions\/9737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"spare](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.alisonschwabe.com\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/spare-bed-cover-002.jpg?resize=450%2C360&ssl=1\")
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