Tuesday 30 May 2017

New Edinburgh sashiko dates! - and sashiko samplers in progress


We had a get together for some of the sashiko students from this year's and last year's Edinburgh courses on Sunday, to see how everyone is getting on.  Catriona, Fiona and Jo brought their sampler blocks and we had fun trying out a few different arrangements, deciding on how to use the sashing and border fabrics etc.  With tea and refreshments organised by Fiona too.

I have arranged next season's dates for our sashiko course at Edinburgh Patchwork.  They are all Saturdays once again - 7th October 2017, 21st October, 18th November 25th November (I've had to change this as the workroom is double booked for another class!), 9th December, 3rd February 2018, 3rd March, 24th March and 14th April.  As we have done in previous years, the class will run from 10.30 a.m. to 4p.m. and the shop opens at 10.  The course outline is staying the same -
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  • Session 1 - rice stitch variations and woven stitches - small samples –on 4 1/2in squares, with grids directly drawn on the fabrics.
  • Session 2 - persimmon flower stitch, coin stitch and variations - small samples and long sampler, plus more variations on persimmon flower stitch - triple, igeta pattern, infinite - on 4 1/2in squares.
  • Session 3 – introduction to flower diamond pattern, fish scale stitch, diamond stitch, abacus stitch - on 4 1/2in squares plus stitching on stripes and patterns in circles.
  • Session 4 – fans and kamon crests – marking and stitching corner fans and family crests – on 9in squares, using paper templates for the fans and chaco transfer paper for the crests.
  • Session 5 – drawing larger patterns with straight lines – raimon (lightning spiral), masuzashi (stacking boxes), asanoha (hemp leaf) and elongated asanoha – all on 9in squares.
  • Session 6 – moths/butterflies, grasses and bamboo patterns – patterns for all over pictorial effects - on 4 1/2in squares
  • Session 7 – drawing larger patterns with curved lines – shippou (seven treasures – like wineglass), fundou (balance weights – like applecore patchwork), nowaki (grasses in clamshell shapes), seigaiha (ocean waves, also clamshell shaped) and ganzezashi (sea urchin stitch, a variation on shippou) – all on 9in squares.
  • Session 8 -– sewing samples together into a patchwork sampler – with a brief look at some of the denser hitomezashi patterns - paving block, kasuri (ikat) check, ground stitch, cedar stitch, facing butterfly, arrow stitch.  It will be possible to do this session with any combination of samples made in the previous sessions – 4 1/2in and 9in – using 1in sashing strips.
The cost this year will be £40 per session, payable one session in advance.  Please contact me via my website if you are interested in attending.

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This is Catriona's sampler in progress.  She is going to make a wallhanging (all three samplers from Sunday will be wallhangings) and luckily is just about to move into a new flat with high ceilings!  Apologies for the shadows in the photos. It was really sunny on Sunday and the room we were in had a logo on the window, and pillars on the facade.


Fiona with her sampler (and I'm trying to block the light a bit!)  She is going to use the green/ochre/cream striped tsumugi cotton in the first photo for her sashing, playing with the stripes going in different directions.  There are touches of green/autumn coloured shaded threads from Hida Sashiko here and there on the blocks too.


Jo's sampler will include a gorgeous hemp and cotton stencilled yukata along with striped tsumugi shading across blues and purples, and a two tone purple and black tsumugi for the sashing.  Lovely effects possible with these fabrics and the sashiko blocks. Purple details in the blocks.


I tried another photo a bit further away from the window!



Sam and her mum Pamela from last year's group joined us. These are the panels they started in the extra December class we did last year, where we made marumon (circular designs) inspired by kamon crests and other Japanese designs, making kirikami papercuts for our templates.  Sam's panel is above.


Jo also made a panel in that class and it is almost finished, inspired by a piece of antique Japanese embroidery.


I've been asked to run this class again - are people interested in it?

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