It was great fun working with the Patti and her great staff at Harbor Quilt in Gig Harbor to display a few of Surayia Rahman’s nakshi kantha tapestries for the past couple of weeks.  Thanks to Janey of the Gig Harbor Quilt Festival for helping to connect us.

Three of Surayia’s designs on display. Photo: Mindi LaRose

What fun it was for me to visit the shop and browse amongst gorgeous arrays of fabrics, stunning sample quilts and pins and needles that took me back to my childhood.  Local artist Lynn helped out with display panels – all stemming from a conversation we had at a New Year’s fest with volunteers of the Gig Harbor Film Festival.  The Peninsula Gateway featured a full page on Surayia and doc-in-progress Threads and Mindi took photos. A real community effort to help raise awareness for the incredible work – based on the Bengali quilting tradition – that continues to flow from talented women in Bangladesh.

Whether in Bangladesh or in our small community in the United States, women come together to stitch, create, tell stories, play with color, and – in some cases – make a living.   Threads connect us all.