I Dream of Marrakech

Maryam sells these exquisite vintage wedding blankets directly from Morocco. These blankets are Berber. They are wooly because they were meant to keep the bride warm and she wore one as a cape as she was walking to her husband's new house. They were made by hand in the bride's family by the women in the family - you can only imagine the amount of work. All that sequin work takes a lot of time and so this was reserved for the best and most important day - the wedding. All blankets are hand loomed sheep's wool with cotton bushy fringe. All sequins are painstakingly added one by one by hand. These are not replica Moroccan wedding blankets - they are genuine vintage items, sourced high in the Atlas mountains in Berber villages and made for Berber brides. All blankets were made in homes and are thought to be instilled with "baraka." Baraka is a positive power with many meanings in Morocco, and is a source of creative inspiration. In the case of carpets and weavings, the religious faith of the weaver and her belief in the supernatural are inextricably connected with the objects she produces. The loom itself remains the ultimate symbol of magical protection. It is looked upon as a living thing and is treated as such. If the weaver takes care in remembering the number and combination of threads to produce a design, the finished textile will be imbued with talismanic power and contain baraka, acting as a "power shield" against the evil eye.

When they arrived, I was stunned and amazed at the workmanship and beauty of these blankets. Pictures don't do it justice, you just have to see it for yourself. I have been feeling pretty down these past few days the tragedy in the news regarding China, was and is, overwhelming. They arrived last week but I did not feel like posting. Today, I decided to do them justice. I will feature them again when I find their nesting place. For now enjoy a little magic from Morocco.

I was waiting to see what slippers she would ship with these. I wanted so badly for them to be white and they were! They are exquisite, and everytime I put them on, I feel the magic of Marrakech. Maryam makes a gift of Moroccan slippers with every purchase of a sequined Moroccan wedding blanket. Go ahead, take a peek inside her store, she has amazing treasures, waiting to take a journey to you.

What I also found to be a sweet touch, was the post card she sent along. It had a beautiful peacock on the cover, and inside, she let me know to treat the blankets with care and love because they were exhausted after the long journey. That is Myriam for you, making you feel the excitement of her far away land. One day in the near future, I hope to make it to Peacock Pavilions. I will sip mint tea among the olive trees and will hear tales of the Red City by the dream weaver herself.