Two months ago I visited my sister in Panama for a week. One of the most impressive aspects of the trip was the presence of indigenous tribes in the downtown areas of Panama City who would make the trek in every day (and go home every night) just to sell their handmade crafts to tourists. The pieces above are 100% handmade applique swatches that I bought from members of the Kuna tribe. They literally had piles of these amazing, ornate pieces (each about 20"x20" or larger).
The first one I got for myself and the second one I bought for Brendan as a gift. When I bought the one for Brendan it was attached to about 6 others of it's kind to form a long, table runner type textile. I only wanted the one piece and thanks to the language barrier really lost out on a great deal. The Kuna man wanted to sell me all of them for $20 dollars. I thought he meant just the one piece for $20. I kept saying I just wanted the one piece so he tore it from the rest and I paid him the $20. Needless to say, I'm totally kicking myself now.
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