Handloomed Striped Ivory Cotton Table Runner with Fringes 'Route to the Sky' Item ID: 2671626902

Angelica Castro, one of the weavers explains. "All of us are from San Martin Jilotepeque. It's a beautiful community, surrounded by trees and flowers. Ever since I was a little girl, I enjoyed watching my mother create her weavings and I loved to see how the colored threads gave life to her textiles.

"I began learning to weave at the age of six, but I didn't start helping my mother weave little huipil blouses to sell until I was ten. She needed my help, because that way we had more money for food and firewood. Even so, I thank my mother – she always insisted that I study. I didn't finish high school, but I finished elementary school.

"What I like most about weaving is that each design or drawing that I capture in the textiles transmits the culture of my Kaqchikel Maya roots and the beauty of the flora and fauna of our wonderful country.

"We are a solid rural group of women entrepreneurs, capable of promoting women's participation in local economic development. Thanks to our hard work and the support we've received, we are able to offer textiles and home accessories of excellent quality.

"In addition to weaving, we've learned, taught and implemented many environmentally responsible practices in our workshop and in the homes of the women weavers. For example, we make and use organic fertilizers for our crops and we recycle everything we can. Also, our designs are woven with certified cotton, some of them combined with wood from volunteer plantations governed by the forest laws of Guatemala.

"We are proud of our work, of what we've achieved in such a short time. We want you to know that our work is made with love and quality. That's why we call ourselves the Weaving Heart."