Two Handmade Quilts with Brown Trim

Two unique, handmade quilts with dark trim donated by Michael Bedford - activist, writer, friend, and work weekend volunteer with the longest tenure! Bought in western Thailand in a Burmese refugee camp Tham Hin, in 2007-8. This was made by a women's cooperative from scraps of cloths. The quilt is just large enough to cover a single bed, and about half of the BMC dining table. 

Tham Hin camp was established in May 1997 following offensives by the Myanmar Military which caused extensive displacement of Karen ethnic civilians.  Initially refugees stayed in three rudimentary sites at the edges of Ratchaburi and Kanchanaburi provinces in Thailand, until these were consolidated into Tham Hin camp.

Tham Hin is built on a very limited amount of space and is one of the most ‘closed’ camps on the border. While it is the closest to the Thai capital Bangkok, it receives fewer visitors than many other camps.

Conditions at Tham Hin are severely cramped. As homes are placed very close together, thatch roofing is considered a fire hazard and plastic sheeting must be used instead.  Employment offsite was very restricted, and thus women organized into cooperatives to use cloth scraps to make the quilts for sale.  On one edge there is a tag naming the cooperative.

• Name : Michael Bedford