Colcha Embroidery - An Endangered Art

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Some endangered art forms survive only because a few artists keep the traditions alive and pass along their skills to following generations.

Spanish colonial embroidery called Colcha Embroidery is one of these endangered art forms.  For hundreds of years colcha embroidery belonged to the daily life of New Mexico homemakers. 

Colcha is a Spanish The signature of this type of embroidery is that it uses only one long overlapping stitch.

Colcha embroidery provides both beauty and usefulness.  Along with the colorful expressions, the embroidered wool blankets provided welcome insulation during cold winters.

In Santa Fe, NM a colcha club still meets monthly for the teaching and practicing of colcha embroidery.

In the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art in Santa Fe, a colcha embroidery exhibition will run from January 31 until May 24, 2009.