Sashiko in Miskolc, Hungary

First, some photos of the venue and the main concourse - there was a specially made applique banner over the entrance to the centre, in blue and white of course. The opening ceremony with members of the Hungarian Patchwork Guild -


There were several fabric traders with a very good selection, including some Hungarian fabrics (I got some red and white Kekfesto cotton to for a red and white quilt I've planned).


The Babylock sashiko machine demonstration got a lot of interest.


Local Japanese teacher Tomiko gave a talk and kimono dressing demonstration on Saturday. For once, I could enjoy someone else giving a kimono talk . She has some beautiful kimono, including a lovely tsujigahana tie dye houmongi (the pale kimono hanging up in the photo below) with a coordinating obi which echoes the tsujigahana flowers.


Our workshop was held in a room above the main concourse - the door is just visible beyond the quilts hung over the balcony. Two of my quilts are on the right and the third quilt is by Polyak Ildiko, from Kitty Pippen's book, "Quilting with Japanese Fabrics". Ildiko did a great job translating the workshops for me and generally sorting everything out.


As well as plenty of high tables for marking and stitching, there were very comfy armchairs and low tables (which reminded me of the tables at Chie Ikeda's sashiko class). The room was well lit and, despite soaring summer temperatures outside, it was a very pleasant workspace.


Beautiful Shonai sashiko samples made at Saturday's workshop -


We stitched kamon crests stitched on Sunday (photo at top of page), when we had a workshop until 2p.m.

As you can see, some beautiful pieces of work were made in those classes. As real Japanese sashiko threads and fabrics don't seem to be available in Hungary, the quilters have experimented with other threads and fabrics as well as trying the materials from Euro Japan Links. Coton a broder makes a good substitute for fine sashiko thread (though it is more expensive in the UK) and some pieces were stitched using shaded perle threads. We shared tips and ideas for sourcing fabrics suitable for sashiko from some unlikely places (IKEA is one of my favourites!) I think I forgot to mention that I've also bought tablecloths, cushion covers etc. from Lidl from time to time - Lidl is in Hungary too.

More photos from Hungary in my next post!