I meant to show you some of the things I bought last weekend, but I got wrapped up in my story about the accident and forgot.

Here are some linen cushion covers (cushions included) I got at Mia Mali, and a rust-orange cotton blanket from the Sahel:

I don't think the cushions are traditional at all. They are hand-made but I think they are just designed for expats like me.

That blanket, though, is woven in the traditional way, in strips about five or six inches wide, which are sewn together, then dyed. Since mudcloth (aka bogolan) dyes are traditionally made from leaves, bark, dirt, etc., brown is a common color, as are tan, black, white, and ochre. The traditional cloths have rough geometric motifs repeated on them, but these blankets are simply dyed in beautiful, rich solid colors. The second one I bought is a not-very-traditional royal blue, shown here with a bogolan pillowcase:

The pillowcase was made by a woman named Betty Keita, who has a table at the monthly craft sales organized by the American Embassy. An expat friend of mine worked with Betty to develop product designs that are based on traditional motifs, yet look modern, and appeal to expats. (They appeal to me -- I've bought four cushion covers and a scarf from her.) This pattern looks traditional, and the cover is sewn from strips of hand-woven cotton.

My friend also worked with Betty on producing items of consistent quality. Quality is a huge issue for anyone working to sell or export things that are made in Mali -- whether it's pillowcases or shea butter or leather sandals, the quality is not always what we (expats) expect. And consistency is difficult to achieve, sometimes because the artisans or producers do not see the inconsistency (or see a problem with it), but often because they do not have a consistent source of good raw materials.

In Betty's case, she made great progress working with my friend, but she still has a hard time making her products consistently high quality because she doesn't do all the work herself. She designs the piece, measures and cuts the cloth, and does the dying. Then she hands the pieces over to a tailor because she doesn't have a sewing machine. Someone gave her an electric machine once, but it broke, and was too expensive to repair. What she needs is an old-fashioned pedal-driven one, but she can't afford it.

I also bought some Mauritanian cloth, which is light and sheer, comes in pieces about two meters long, and is dyed in brilliant colors. It makes great curtains, so I hung the new piece in the guest room. (Pictured here with Awa's homemade boogie board, which she brought back from Coco Beach, Ghana).

We're leaving for Ouagadougou at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. Back next week.

P.S. If you noticed the abundant, yet natural-looking light in these photos, thank my new Speedlite 420EX ...