Japanese Wrapping Scarf

After he had defended his thesis, maybe after he had already received his degree, one of my graduate students from Japan came to my office with a gift. Bowing as the Japanese do, he extended toward me a gift wrapped in this scarf. [SDH]

Japanese man's yukata

This comical textile is from one of several yukata (summer kimonos) that my in-laws brought back from Japan. My father and mother-in-law went to Japan in the early 1980’s. [SDH]

Silk Scarf from India

I think that this scarf was given to me by an Indian student I met while visiting England during the Christmas holidays of my junior year in France. [SDH]

Silk Scarf from India

One Saturday many years ago, not very long after my husband and I started the recycling program in our hometown, I found this beautiful silk scarf from India in a discarded box at the recycling center. [SDH]

Silk Scarf from India

I bought my first Indian scarves as a college student in the 1960’s, on sale at Bonwit Teller, a large department score in Cleveland whose merchandise was usually too expensive for my budget. This silk scarf is another one of them. [SDH]

Silk Scarf from India

I bought my first Indian scarves as a college student in the 1960’s, on sale at Bonwit Teller, a large department score in Cleveland whose merchandise was usually too expensive for my budget. This silk scarf is one of them. [SDH]

Hmong reverse applique

I bought this piece of Hmong reverse appliqué while I was a visiting scholar at Willamette University in Oregon. [SDH]

Chinese scarf with Xixia characters

I’m not sure that this is really a scarf from China. It is a silk scarf that my mother bought for me at the Louvre. It is printed with an medieval Chinese text (XII century), Soustra au lotus, in Xixia characters. [SDH[

Hunan embroidery

Another of our Chinese graduate students arrived somewhat unexpectedly in August 2004. One day she brought me this silk scarf from Hunan, her home province, decorated with embroidery typical of the region. [SDH]

Brocade Bag from China

Soon after his arrival on campus, one of my graduate students from China brought me a gift. The gift was a beautiful brocade bag, gold embroidery on a dark blue background with red corners and a large red medallion on the front and back. [SDH]

Welcome

Welcome to our Virtual Asian Studies Friendship Quilt Blog. This blog will provide snapshots of the stories/information/memories from the owners of textiles used on the East Carolina University Asian Studies Program web site. The complete stories will form the "stuffing layer" of a virtual quilt composed of "friendship" blocks that use swatches of those textiles, associated with a brief profile of the contributor and his or her story of its "memory-value" or "quilt-value." We encourage you to contribute to our blog, adding additional information about the textiles, the cultures from which they come, or any other comments you would like to share.

When we decided to create a web site to promote the Asian Studies Program funded in part by a grant from the US Department of Education, we needed to choose a visual motif. We could have chosen famous monuments, or great cities, or striking landmarks. We choose instead textiles. They are, of course, the material of clothing. They are used in many parts of the home. They are also an art form. So textiles are something that cultures hold in common. At the same time, textile patterns and even materials can help us distinguish among cultures.

We have asked members of the ECU community to share with us examples of textiles that they have from Asian cultures. We have been very pleased with the response. Photos of these textiles appear on the Asian Studies web site, rotating in a random series as you move from one page to the next.