The following chapters reflect my interest in the cultural significance of handcrafts made for the marketplace. In both writings, I explore how objects made for sale are meaningful to their makers. The first deals with storycloths, an embroidered textile tradition with beginnings as recent as the 1970s. While not part of the repertoire of historic Hmong textiles, storycloths have nevertheless become significant to the transmission of Hmong cultural history. The second chapter examines a more localized subject in the joining of Hmong and Mennonite quilters in "Amish Country." I approach the country style quilts these women make as poetic expressions of both their cultural history and personal relationships.
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