Monday, April 6, 2009

Turkish cushion covers

Arrived by mail from Istanbul a few weeks ago. Bevan had brought new ones to me in Cape Town after I washed my original covers and saw the dye bleed out. Sniff. My red pomegranates turned pink. Sob. Anyway, my mom loved the covers when she saw them and Bevan suggested we leave those to live on the Cape Town couch, and he'd send more to me in the land of the Infidel. Which he did.



I have romantic notions about the embroidery of these covers. Real hands, with clever fingers and an artist's eye, working on this fabric now in my house in Brooklyn. An old lady, somewhere in Turkey, near the light of a window, stitching away. A kitten at the doorway, drinking its saucer of milk, a white goat outside, poking its head in. The new leaves on the grapevine about to be harvested by a daughter, to make dolma.

Tell me it's so...


These deep oranges that I need in my life, flowers, fruit.


I procrastinated before ordering new pillows - the covers were larger than the old ones. I found a place online, in Delaware, selling goosedown inserts, as they are called when naked, and they arrived the next day, regular shipping. It was amazing.


Thank you, Bevan Ali.

5 comments:

  1. Yum, those are absolutely gorgeous, Marie! I've always been fascinated by ethnic embroideries...have copied some from Native American garments, which were influenced by the French, which were influenced probably by Persian, Turkish, Chinese... I love the saturated color in these new ones of yours.

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  2. Lovely! And how will you clean the new cushion covers if the need arises? Dry Cleaning? Embroideries can be so tricky to clean ...

    :/ pritha

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  3. Yeah, your romantic notion is touchingly... cushioned. ;-)

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  4. One of my favorite color combinations is the teal blue with the burnt orange. These are beautiful.

    Washing tip for the future: COLD WATER, do not agitate, put plenty of white vinegar in the water.

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  5. Your beautiful pillow covers are truly artwork! I love your vision of how they were crafted. I collect old silverware which I enjoy using everyday. I've often wondered what lives they've lived & wish their stories could be unfurled!

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