Workshops last week in East Sussex

For some reason, I couldn't get Blogger to load up these photos earlier in the week, so there's been a bit of a delay in posting about the three workshops I had in East Sussex from the end of April to the beginning of May.  I seem to have got around it today by using a different internet browser, so there will be a few blog posts in very quick succession!

The second workshop was with Burwash Quilters and we did 'Japanese Art Quilt Boromono'. As you can see from the photo above, creative people can't be tidy :-)  The group set up their sewing machines at one end of the room, but had their cutting tables in the centre.  It worked very well for this workshop, where we are alternating between cutting and piecing all the time, giving everyone plenty of room to arrange and evaluate their patchworks as they grew.  Here's some of the boromono, which are inspired by old Japanese rag cloths.

This quilter had lots of indigo and other hand dyes she had done herself and combined them with small Japanese prints and a lovely bold Indian recycled floral fabric, which reminded me of Japanese sarasa prints (which were Indian inspired).

The lilac pieces in this boromono are silk dupion, with a slight two tone effect - very difficult to capture the subtlety in a photo.  Mixing different fibres can add a lot of interest.

A great collection of old shirt fabrics makes a good boromono.  This one is complete with pockets and even a buttonhole strip as a diagonal applique.

Dorothy made TWO boromono in the workshop.  The first one will become a picnic throw and uses up furnishing samples.  The fabrics with the floating squares and grids give an interesting look when pieced in.

This is her second panel.  We did a fabric swap as the scrolling batik was perfect for a project I'm planning - the bold diamond motifs on white are one of my yukata fabrics.

Rusts, browns and creams make a harmonious colour scheme.

A large scale printed linen and a cream an blue check worked very well with some Moda patchwork fabrics, with a rather French feel to this patchwork.

I can't really have a favourite, but I love the yellow tsumugi cotton picking up on the same yellow in the Indian handprinted cotton here, and the use of the pillowcase bags (complete with a label)!

Large scale furnishing fabrics always work well for this.  The butterfly fabrics were carefully cut and positioned among all the florals while the large pale flowers make the dark fabrics more interesting.  There aren't all that many pieces in this boromono, but it is bold and has a very attractive sense of direction in the patchwork.

Very pale linen-type fabrics are framed by a stripe, which runs in both directions.  The light greens and blossom colours were all around in the countryside during our visit, so this has a strong Spring feeling for me.

There were a few more pieces I didn't manage to snap, but I'm looking forward to seeing photos of the finished panels. 

My other workshops were both sashiko - 'Sashiko for Summer' with Brede Crafters on the first Saturday and 'Sashiko Furoshiki' with Rye Creative Stitchers on the second.  The first two photos are from the first workshop and the rest from the second.  Lots of lovely fabric colours chosen for these pieces.