The display includes pewter and background textiles, but the purpose of the exhibit is to display five examples of Hmong applique. The Hmong people are a minority ethnic group, first found in China but now living in several countries in Southeast Asia -- Burma, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, where they have maintained their own customs and patterns, as well as adopting the culture of their new countries. There are still many Hmong in Laos, mostly in refugee camps, but many have fled to other countries including the U.S. Some of them moved to Philadelphia where Doris Allebach found this beautiful stitchery.

In the Hmong language paj ndau is the word for their applique. It means flower cloth. These bright colored geometric designs are closely related to the work of other ethnic minorities in china and the practice of paj ndau by the Hmong is still being passsed down by craftspeople who originally fled to, and then from, Laos.

images for paj ndau ...................hmongstudies.com............Threads of Life - a video about paj ndau

Photos by Mike Carrell