On Friday, members of the Marches branch of the Embroiderers' Guild did the Sashiko Furoshiki workshop, in the lovely village hall of Edgerton. The morning was bright and sunny, with plenty of light coming through the windows, which were accessible enough to do the 'window as a lightbox' trick, so I taught the workshop back to front, starting with marking the kamon (family crests) to make the most of the light. At this time of year, it goes so quickly!
The 'window lightbox' method is how I transferred 'The Denman Kannon' in September 2008. As we go further into autumn & winter, getting enough light through the window becomes a problem in the UK. Marking the crest first meant there was a good selection of crests stiched by the afternoon. The autumn colours outside seemed reflected in the fabric choices.
Some of the coloured fabrics are the Olympus tsumugi from Euro Japan Links Limited and others are from Kaffe Fassett's shot cotton range for Rowan/Westminster. The shot cottons open up some interesting possibilities for using coloured threads, as the exact same colours in the weave begin give the sashiko a 'hidden' effect, like the kakurezashi (hidden sashiko) achieved by overdyeing with indigo, seen on some old sashiko pieces. The marbled russet fabric is hand dyed.
The 'cord' tying the noshi bundle (top left) is made with two parallel but offset lines of sashiko -
This lovely quilt was made using blocks from 'Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match' - not in the workshop of course - and uses two of my wool blend fabrics in the kimono on the left and the triple plum blossom in the bottom left corner. Gorgeous autumn colours were everywhere.
1 comment:
That looks like a lovely workshop, I particularly like the selection of colours for working sashiko on. The hanging in Autumn shades looks good.
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