Summer 2009 Newsletter | Vietnam-Quilts news, quilt, patchwork, women, employment, community development, Vietnam, Cambodia, handicraft, rural development, gender, fair trade,quilt
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Vietnam-Quilts
Community Development
Summer 2009 Update
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Warm greetings from Vietnam-Quilts. But with temperatures around 35 degrees of late, perhaps a little too warm for some!
We hope you had a great break during the May Day holiday recently and, if you are planning a trip away during the upcoming Summer holidays, you will keep us mind for the purchase of gifts and goodies that you will take with you. And remember that if you wish to place a custom order for a quilt or other product before you leave, our quilts can take up to five weeks to create, so avoid disappointment - visit us soon!
As usual, there has been lots going on at Vietnam-Quilts during the past few months, and here we are to keep you up-to-date. In this edition, you will find:
- New products in store
- Limited edition - Sue Spargo inspired baby quilts
- See us at the Mekong Merchant Bazaar in HCMC - Thursday, 28 May
- New shop opens in Phnom Penh
- New products online
- Winners! VQ wins a Guide Award 2008-2009
- Continue to help us get into Lonely Planet
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NEW PRODUCTS IN STORE
Our designers have been particularly creative and busy recently with a whole host of new products created for your purchasing pleasure. With a focus of babies, children and their parents*, the following items are now available from our shops:
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Baby stackers, portable and light-weight baby change mats and toy dogs and frogs
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Pint sized aprons for children
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New baby quilts including some very sweet penguins, and two gorgeous and ‘girly' designs - one with subtle colours and swirling stitch work around flowers (thanks to Julie for inspiration on this one) and the other featuring appliqued clouds, stars and hearts and a range of printed flower fabric ($40 each)
   
There's also some very cute pig pot-holders in a range of colours available for just $4 each (we thank our long-time, faithful and creative customer, Noel, for this inspired and already popular product).
* Please note that for the Ho Chi Minh City store, most of these new products will be launched at the upcoming Mekong Merchant bazaar on Thursday, 28 May (see below for details).
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SUE SPARGO-INSPIRED BABY QUILTS
You may remember the feature story about the workshop run by celebrated American designer and quilt maker, Sue Spargo, and her sister, Wendy Morris, from our Christmas newsletter late last year (read more about the story). We are excited to let you know that it has inspired a small range of one-off baby quilts. But you will have to be quick! We only have a small number in stock and these truly one-of-a-kind quilts will be snapped up at just $50 each.
All of these special quilts feature up to 15 small panels, each of which has been created by hand. They include a range of embellishment techniques and new designs and have been joined together to create a gorgeous and unique quilt for you and your baby to enjoy!
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BABY PRODUCTS LAUNCH AT MEKONG MERCHANT BAZAAR - HCM CITY
9am to 3pm, Thursday, 28 May
Mothers-to-be, parents, doting grandparents - come one, come all! Come visit us that the next MM bazaar at 23 Thao Dien, An Phu. With the theme for this bazaar being Kids and Gifts, what better place to launch a whole range of new products for babies and children.
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OUR NEW SHOP OPENS IN PHNOMPENH, CAMBODIA
A lot of hard work over the last few months have been transformed into a delightful outcome - we have opened a new shop in Phnom Penh under the name of Mekong -Quilts. Well situated in the centrally located 240 Street and very close to the Royal Palace, the show room is bright and airy and just perfect for our eye-catching quilts.
Mekong-Quilts is already proving very popular with tourists, local expatriates and Cambodians alike. Along with an array of our ever popular quilts and products to choose from, there are some new quilt designs featuring Khmer girls wearing the distinctive kramer around their heads.
With this new shop, the aim is to expand our quilting program and, in the not too distant future, train and provide employment to Khmer women in the poor rural province of Svay Rieng to create the quilts for the Cambodian store.
So if you are visiting Phnom Penh, drop in to Mekong-Quilts at 49, Street 240. It is open from 9am to 7pm, Monday to Sunday, and any enquiries can be directed to mekong.quilts.pp@gmail.com. |
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NEW PRODUCTS ONLINE
Is it time for a new quilt? Is an important birthday or celebration that requires a gift coming up? We are happy to let you know that we have added some new quilts to to the "Immediate Shipment" section of our website (click here). This means you can select the quilt you like from our range, make your payment by credit card and have it sent immediately. This is ideal for our overseas customers, as well as those who live outside of HCMC and Hanoi in Vietnam.
There are some very cute baby quilts to tempt you, including some of our new designs - hearts, stars and clouds; baby flowers; sheep; and the new penguin. We have a couple of our classic Circles quilts to choose from and a one-of-a-kind, won't-be-found-anywhere-else Sapa quilt, featuring a unique piece of hand-dyed and embroidered fabric from the hill-tribes area in the North-West region of Vietnam. Enjoy!
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THE GUIDE AWARD FOR VIETNAM QUILTS
Vietnam-Quilts has won The Guide Award for Excellent Performance in 2008-2009! The Guide Award ceremony is an annual event that celebrates the best products and services in the tourism and hospitality sector of Vietnam. This is an honor for all of our staff and quilters, recognizing the exceptional quality of our products and our efforts to provide a high level of customer service.
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CONTINUE TO HELP US GET INTO LONELY PLANET
An enormous big ‘thanks' to all of you who emailed Lonely Planet following our last email newsletter request. Our inclusion in Lonely Planet would have an tremendous positive impact on our shops and, as a result, on our quilters.
Lonely Planet listings rely on visitor recommendations, so those who have not had the chance to shoot off a quick email, we encourage you to do so. We ask you to click on this link and enter details of the HCMC and/or Hanoi shop. For just a few minutes of your time, you will be helping us enormously by directing thousands of future visitors through our doors. Thanks for taking the time! |
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WHO WE ARE
Vietnam-Quilts is a non-profit, community development project within the NGO of Vietnam Plus. The program trains and employs women in rural areas of Vietnam, where employment is seasonal and can require the women to leave their families for extended periods of time. Vietnam-Quilts aims to give these women permanent work, with a regular income, in their own village. Currently we employ 180 women to hand-make quilts and home accessories for sale in Vietnam and internationally, but are always looking for opportunities to employ more.
For further information about Vietnam-Quilts and to view our catalogue of quilts available for purchase, please visit our website. |
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