Novica Handmade Home Bonds Cotton Placemats

Handloomed in Guatemala from natural and recycled cotton, this set of four placemats is that tasteful accent you need in your dining room. Crafted by Luisa Villavicencio, each placemat features a solid alabaster tone enhanced with an embroidered cordovan stripe and little fringes for a sweet style. Product Features: Dimension: 17.25" L x 14.5"" W Weight: 0.6 Color: Grey Material: 100% cotton Made in Guatemala Story Behind the art: Nature gives the color and we give it shape…. I'm a Guatemalan woman, born into a family where respect for the environment and for our country's culture have always been a part of our daily life. The story of why I'm here and do what I do is really the story of my whole family, beginning with my parents. My father was always passionate about growing cotton. No matter how small the harvest, no matter how bad the weather, he never wanted to raise coffee or corn or anything else. He was an agronomy engineer and was enthusiastic about cotton and with preserving the cultivation of a crop that originated with the Maya culture. Cotton used to be abundant in Guatemala but it's been slowly disappearing over the years. Today, our 17 acres of cotton fields are the only ones left in the country. We are the only cotton farm in Guatemala. All our creations are 100% ecological, 100% natural undyed cotton that reveals the natural shades of the fiber. People are surprised to learn that we use no dying process at all, but it's true. What's more, the color becomes more intense when the garment is washed. We work with only three pure colors. Apart from the crude cotton color everyone is familiar with, we also use a seed known as ixcaco in the Maya language. It originated in the mountains with the ancient Maya civilization and produces brown cotton. We call our third color jade. My father and brother researched a way to obtain it by modifying the brown cotton seed and they were able to! Some time ago, we began working with a company that recycles denim scraps and remnants on a large scale. Their process is free of chemicals and dyes and saves more than 5,000 gallons of water. This fiber is 100% natural and is biodegradable. Because we have a strong commitment to social responsibility and to the environment, we wanted to adapt this fabric to our apparel, using materials with an endless cycle of life. All our crop is destined for our own designs except for a small portion that we donate to the Ixchel Museum in Guatemala City. This museum works to preserve Guatemala's native textiles and clothing, a cause we strongly identify with. Also, my mother collaborated with this museum for many, many years because she had the soul of an artist and loved our country's textiles. She helped the weavers and it was there that she learned to work with them and teach them quality, design, etc. The teaching went both ways, as she'd tell me how much she learned from the artisans. In 1995, my father and brother founded our fashion workshop. Once they had achieved the colors and could manage their cultivation, they began thinking about the final product they could create with our cotton. They contacted artisans who gave them ideas, created samples, and the first designs were sweaters. They opened the retail shop we have today. The handmade touch of artisan skill creates variations in color, size and design. If buying two of the same item, slight differences should be expected. Note: Color discrepancies may occur between this product and your computer screen. Imported"