The trip to Norfolk - sashiko workshop and World Textile Day photos

Everything has been so busy since the Great Northern Quilt show, with no chance to write up events for the blog, so I am trying to have a catch up weekend before the Scottish Quilt Championships next weekend.

After a couple of days at mum's straight after the Sewing Quarter TV tutorials, we were down to Norfolk for World Textile Day at Mundford and a workshop with Castle Quilters at Sporle.  Castle Quilters couldn't decide between the sashiko furoshiki workshop and the sashiko kinchaku bag, so I taught patterns from both workshops.  There will be some bags with fans or kamon crests on one side and a few cushion panel sets too.

The village hall is an old school house, which was very brightly lit for our stitching.

There was enough space for lots of sashiko samples around the corner - on the table.

We had a big thunderstorm and cloudburst while setting up World Textile Day in the modern village hall at Mundford, but on the day it was OK.

This quilt was made with variations on my Igeta pattern from the Japanese Quilt Inspirations book, using Liberty fabrics, which gave it a totally different twist.

I only get a chance to take photos when it is quiet.  Bob got other photos when the hall was really busy.

We always get a group photos for the records, and it has become a tradition to dress up in some of the stock!

Sashiko projects - finished!

Lesley Bills sent me a photo of the sashiko kinchaku bag she started in our class on Saturday - already finished!  She wrote -

Really enjoyed the class on Saturday - here's my finished bag... enjoyed making it - nice to get a project finished. Put the bag together last night - good instructions which made it so easy - thanks again 

Love the coordination with the thread, lining and flower ends on the cord too.

Some sashiko projects are a bit more involved and take a little longer to complete. Joyce Petrie made this lovely wall hanging after our class in Dunfermline last year, where we combined sashiko with applique.  I like the way she has mounted the panel on hessian, which gives it a great Japanese country feeling.

Thanks for the photos!

Sashiko kinchaku bag panels with Aberdeen Quilters

We had a really nice day on Saturday.  In the daytime, I taught at Aberdeen Quilters and they made the sashiko kinchaku bag panels.  Lots of variety in thread and fabric combinations.  Hopefully I'll see some of these finished soon?

 

The weather was bright and breezy, so Glyn had a mooch around the city.  This is the Lang Stane, probably once part of a stone circle. I've never seen it before, but I haven't been in the city centre very much.

 

He also spotted this Japanese restaurant.  Maybe one for another visit?  We had fish and chips in Stonehaven instead, sitting by the boardwalk along the beach, and came home 'the scenic route' via Montrose and through Montreathmont Forest, alongside Rescobie Loch, to Forfar, and then home.

Today, lots of parcels of fabric arrived from Japan...

Sashiko at Seattle Quilt Company

We had two sashiko workshops at Seattle Quilt Company, on Friday and Saturday.  I forgot my camera on Friday, so will post some pics of the Introduction to Shonai Sashiko workshop when the quilters send me some, and here are pics from the Sashiko Kinchaku Bag worskhop on Saturday.  They have a lovely workroom at the shop - plenty of space and well lit, so it was ideal for handstitching.  However, I think we'll be back to use to Gamill longarm machine sometime soon!

Hutton Priory Patchers sashiko workshop

Hutton Priory Patchers enjoyed a relaxing sashiko workshop at the Arts & Crafts Centre at Worden Park, Leyland, on Thursday.  We made the panels for the sashiko kinchaku drawstring bags (above).  The workroom was lovely and cool on a hot (!) day.  The Arts & Crafts Centre was originally one of the outbuildings for Worden Hall and there was a fantastic antique kitchen range in the fireplace.

 

One of the quilters had made a bright and summery version of my Oriental Log Cabin Sampler - much more pink than the original and also some yellow highlights in the strips.

 

 

Another group member had made two wallhangings with blocks from 'Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match'.  She made the first one and her daughter liked it so much, she made another one for her.

  

Sorry for the short post, but I'm getting things ready for the Festival of Quilts at the NEC Birmingham next weekend - there's a lot to do...

Back home from Sussex and Oxfordshire

There's just a week to go till Quilts UK at Malvern and I have a sampler cot quilt to finish for Monday week - made with the blocks on the cover of '130 Little Quilt Blocks' ('130 Mini Quilt Blocks' for readers in the USA and Australia).

Last week I taught two workshops - 'Sashiko kinchaku bag' for Ridgeway Quilters, near Oxford, and 'Recycled Curves' at East Grinstead. Once I have some photos of finished items from the groups, I'll post them. Some beautiful pieces made in both workshops, but I have only one photo from Ridgeway and forgot to take the camera to the East Grinstead class! - but they are meeting on Monday, so I'm hoping Jennie will take some photos of the 'Recycled Curves' progress then. There were some super choices for the main fabrics and several quilters included metallic weaves (sparkle organza etc.) in the layers, so these will be rather special once quilted and washed to fluff up the raw edge applique. No doubt I'll see members of both quilt groups at the National Quilt Championships at Sandown Park, Surrey, in June, so I'm looking forward to seeing some finished pieces then.

Sashiko and patchwork workshops last weekend

Members of Heffle Quilters worked hard on Saturday's workshop, making panels for the Kinchaku Bag. The sashiko workshops give the illusion that it isn't really hard work but everyone achieves so much, learning how to mark and stitch patterns like shippo (seven treasures), nowaki ("grasses") and asanoha (hemp leaf). I heard today that one of the quilters has already finished her bag, while two of the others are almost done, so I'm looking forward to seeing some photos of their pieces soon.

Bedfordshire Quilters chose the Japanese Circles and Squares patchwork workshop for their day on Tuesday. This design makes very economical use of seven fat quarters and one eighth. It doesn't have to be Japanese fabrics, as one of the quilters showed with her super selection of animal skin prints in stripes and spots.

Seeing all the lovely fabric combinations chosen by various quilters is one of the fun aspects of teaching this workshop (and another reason I have more than half a dozen workshop samples in different fabrics, as I enjoy trying out something new!)

This lovely pink and green selection included fabrics with very thirties-style Japanese designs. Once the blocks are made, they can be set out in more than one way, so it is then time to experiment!

Sashiko in Shaftesbury - North Dorset Quilters

I visited North Dorset Quilters on my way to Jersey last week, doing the "Travels with a Bag Lady" talk on Wednesday night and the "Sashiko Kinchaku Bag" workshop on Thursday. We had a bit of a surprise when we turned up at the hall they had booked for the workshop - Thursday was the day of the EU elections and it had been taken over as a polling station. The polling clerk was initially pleased to see us, thinking we had turned out to vote!

Kate, the group's chairperson, stepped in and we went to her ultra modern house, which turned out to be the ideal place for the workshop. I completely forgot to take any photos of the completed work in the afternoon, as we were running slightly late due to the change of venue and of course some people had to leave at 4p.m. Thanks to Kate for sending the photos below.


As the day was warm and sunny, the quilters could take their stitching out in the afternoon.

Here is a link to Kate's wonderful house - a great space for workshops.