A reader's version of my sashiko patchwork

Laura Parsons posted her version of my boro-inspired sashiko patchwork from 'Japanese Sashiko Inspirations' and 'Simple Sashiko' on the UK Quilters United Facebook page and she has given me permission to post the photo here too.  I love her colour scheme - so subtle! It turned out that she bought the fabrics from me a few years ago when I exhibited at Bristol. She wrote -

Thoroughly enjoyed making this Sashiko wallhanging. It’s from the wonderful Susan Briscoe. It’s not perfect, but I’m happy with it and I’m going to make it again for a gift for my brother.
Lucky brother!

Today's Quilter sashiko special supplement - sneak peek!

I've had a look at the pdf files for the sashiko supplement, due out on August 18th, and it is looking really good.  There are three complete projects - Koi scroll, Marumon (framed below) and Ranru.

All three projects were featured in 'Japanese Sashiko Inspirations', which is currently out of print, so it's a good chance to get your hands on these patterns.  Ranru is also in 'Simple Sashiko', but not the other two - they are a bit more complicated!

The history section from '...Inspirations' is included...

Plus a great sashiko gallery selected from both 'The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook' and '...Inspirations', including sashiko works by Yuza Sashiko Guild members as well as me.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Today's Quilter will have the large sashiko sampler from '...Ultimate...' displayed on their stand at Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham.  If you take out a subscription during the show, you'll get the sashiko special to take home with you too, in advance of it arriving in the shops.

Sally's "Japanese Quilt Blocks" quilts

Sally Westcott from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, has made this absolutely gorgeous quilt from blocks in my "Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match" book. Click the photo to go to Sally's blog entry all about it.

A fellow sashiko fan, this isn't the only project where Sally has used designs from JQB. Here's two of the kamon crest sashiko blocks and a few more, including designs from "Japanese Sashiko Inspirations - the wonderful seashell design isn't mine - I'm guessing it must be an original.

Her blog header photo of a rainbow over Hobart is pretty impressive too! Thanks for contacting me Sally and giving me permission to include a photo of your quilt here. (The "bubble shooter" game widget was also on Sally's site - it was so much fun, I've imported the widget at the bottom of this page too!)

EDIT - I've added her website to the list at the right. Have a look at the lovely wallhanging she made using hitomezashi stitches and monoprints!

Denman Kannon - extra quilting

With the quilt layered and tacked, I'm adding extra hand quilting to the centre panel and areas where the design spills out over the borders, before stitching several hitomezashi patterns across the top and bottom (currently plain) sections of the borders. The camera flash has made the quilt look flatter than it is. The wadding is Hobbs Polydown, in black, so it is giving quite a lot of extra depth but it won't beard through. The hand quilting is close to the sashiko lines, so it is practically invisible, and there is just enough to hold the layers together - this could only work for a wallhanging - a bed quilt would need more quilting! While it has been interesting to see the quilt take on a more three dimensional look, the "invisible" quilting hasn't been very interesting to do, because the stitches are pretty much invisible close up and the effect of the high-loft wadding only really appears when the quilt is hung up.


The use of hitomezashi (one stitch sashiko) patterns in the border is a favourite finishing technique used by my friend Reiko Domon to add extra sashiko accents to her sashiko & patchwork quilts.



I plan to try a transition effect, with one sashiko pattern merging into another. This is possible in a reasonably subtle way, because several komezashi (rice stitch) variations share the same foundation stitches as a number of other patterns, including kakinohanazashi (persimmon flower stitch). I tried a similar effect with a cushion for Euro Japan Links Limited, but with the patterns divided into diagonal bands. There is a photo of it in the Inspiration Gallery in "Japanese Sashiko Inspirations" too. The shaded thread used for this cushion (shading from white to brown) gives the stitch patterns a feeling of transparency.

Fantastic sashiko exhibition in Yuza-machi!

Reiko Domon has sent me some photos of their second exhibition this summer, this time at the Yurari, Yuza-machi - click this link to see her website. Go to the menu on the left of the page and click on the "2008" titles - the first one shows photos from the exhibition at Shonai Airport (click each image to see a larger version) and the next two show panoramas from the Yurari exhibition.

As the second panorama scrolls to the right, look out for the "tansu" pocket hanging from "Japanese Sashiko Inspirations" (its the little bright blue piece hanging on the screen just after the fourth "pillar" from the left). "O-neesan" and "Kyoto Dreams" are also visible towards the far right.

The exhibition looks amazing! If you like indigo and white, sashiko, patchwork and old Japanese textiles you will love it.

This is a new work by Reiko - with a Houhou (Chinese Phoenix) at the centre. In legend, the houhou appears to herald a time of great peace in the world. Reiko works with a lot of recycled fabrics, including old kimono that are beyond wearing.


Sashiko workshops at the exhibition (you can see my Kimono wallhanging from my lastest sashiko book wrapped around the pillar on the right) -

Here's my twin "Koi Scroll", also from "Japanese Sashiko Inspirations", on the left of this triple group of hangings (below). The two koi leaping up the waterfall, in applique & sashiko, is one of Reiko's creations, made to celebrate the birth of her first grandson. The sleeveless patchwork hanten (with red patches, on the board at the right) is an antique piece.

My sashiko table runner, "Mihon" (sampler), includes squares inspired by a wonderful old jacket at the Chido Museum, Tsuruoka City, near Yuza. You can also see my little book bag with marumon (circular motif) designs. Don't the framed sashiko samples look great? I love the way that even the smallest piece of sashiko can be turned into something interesting.

Here is my "Japanese Fans" quilt (scroll down on link page), with two of the new "Yamagata" quilts in the background. Way back in 2006, when I visited Yuza with my quilting friend Margaret Ramsay, I set Peaceful Heart Quilt Group a challenge - on the theme of "Yamagata". These quilts are coming to the UK soon - I'll update more information here. The two shown below feature the Mogami river, which flows through Yamagata and was the major trade route to the coast in Edo times, and Mt Chokai, fifth highest mountain in Japan, right behind Yuza-machi. The creative use of tenugui souvenir towels is interesting on the second quilt, one with Mt Chokai and another showing the sixteen disciples of Buddha, carved on the rocks at Fukura, Yuza-machi, around 200 years ago.

I made fabric bundles for every member of the group, including a shaded fabric (from blue to purple) that was printed for a Quilters' Guild challenge, a lovely blue cedar forest print (from Dot Sherlock's Quilter's Needs) and a Kona Bay print with pines and golden cranes (not visible in the bundles unfortunately).

Here's more info about the Yurari. The exhibition hall is on the right of the spa hotel complex. Checkout the blog too - looks like the manager has just got a kitten! (I put these page through the Outlook Express auto translation, so the English might be a bit strange! Right click will bring up the auto translate menu, if you use Outlook Express - a very useful feature. Mostly I'm using Firefox these days, which doesn't have it).

It is an excellent venue. In July 2006, Peaceful Heart Quilt Group had a party for us at the Yurari - the food was delicious! Here's some photos -
- and Margaret with her "travel shawl" (the perfect travel project - pack some threads and a needle and add some more stitching whenever you like, and you have some instant evening wear too).
Chie Ikeda, who taught me sashiko, is on the right. Here's a quilt she made using some of the blocks from "Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match", shown at the Shonai Airport exhibition in June/July 2008 -


The blocks are based on Kurume Kasuri designs from the early 20th century - the second block invites you to add something in the centre, doesn't it?

Sashiko & Japanese Country Textiles talk - from last year & other web browsings

Now and again I spot a previous event on the net - here is a blog entry from the Spinners, Weavers & Dyers Guild from North Cheshire with photos and report from the talk I did there in May 2007. Lots of dressing up photos!

Here's a great version of Japanese Circles and Squares, made at one of my workshops. I can't work out who it is though!

The backpack from 21 Sensational Patchwork Bags has appeared in several versions - this one looks good.

And Jana Lalova, my new friend from the Czech Republic, has posted a photo of us all together at Festival of Quilts on her blog. We met after she translated The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook into Czech, my second book in Czech - scroll down Jana's blog to see the cover of that edition. Left to right below - me, Charlotte, Jana and Judy Wilson, our hardworking Quilter's Guild Rep for Region 13.

Finished painting the arbour this afternoon - will post photos of that (with a sashiko cushion or two of course) when I get back from the Denman Diamond week.

South West Quilt Show at Exeter - "Japanese Sashiko Inspirations" launched!

Last weekend I was at the South West Quilt Show at the Westpoint Arena, Exeter, for the first time. On Thursday, before setting up, I had a planning meeting for my next bag book at David & Charles' HQ in Newton Abbot, so I collected several boxes of "Japanese Sashiko Inspirations" so I could launch it at the show. My friend Charlotte helped out, and we gave away dozens of promo postcards, cups of sake and green tea sweets during the show.

My entry for the "Land of the Rising Sun" challenge was on show again (I've deliberately smudged the quilts on either side in the photo). The smaller challenge quilts were displayed on grey boards, so they were hanging really well.

This is one of our younger visitors showing off her mum's (?) versions of "Yama" (mountain) one of my Euro Japan Links kits http://www.eurojapanlinks.com (I couldn't find the kit on the website, but it is still available). Apparently, these are "trial runs" for the foundation pieced centre sections using cotton fabrics, saving the silks from the kit for another version.

I had a great time - nice venue and the easiest get in and breakdown ever (the only place I've ever been able to drive the car into the building!) There were lots of lovely quilts on show - some of my favourites included "By the Sea" by Jean Croissant (lovely use of seaside view prints in a gothic stained glass window design), "West Country Welcome" by Juanita Wild (the wicker man giant near the M5, with a great patchwork border depicting the surrounding fields), and "Sweet Dreams" by Carol Archer (a golden dragon asleep, with his scales made from folded patchwork points). Some great quilt fabrics on sale too - I found some Kaffe Fassett ikat spots I've been after for a while and an interesting needlecord with abstract leaves printed on it. We managed to get everything back in the car - just!

Next weekend I'm teaching at the Region 10 area day for the Quilters' Guild, at Epperstone Village Hall, with a talk on Saturday afternoon, so it is time to change the car around and repack.

Sashiko, applique and a new projects

Predictably, today was much quieter at the exhibition than yesterday, so I was able to get on with a quilt project when there weren't any visitors about. I am finishing the applique on a small quilt called "Kyoto Dreams", for the "Land of the Rising Sun" Kona bay fabrics challenge at Grosvenor Exhibition's spring quilt shows. Deadline for delivery is next week, so not much time. Luckily, the set size is only 30in x 24in, so it isn't too big. I couldn't resist making a wallhanging for this themed competition, as I like using Kona Bay fabrics in many of my quilting projects. Many of the Kona Bay fabrics are large scale prints and, compared with some Japanese quilt fabric brands, they look quite bright, but there are plenty of more subtle fabrics, including tone-on-tone prints and even plains in their range. They also produced some excellent panels recently, including a selection from Utamaro ukiyo-e prints and some panels from kimono designers in Kyoto - beautiful quality prints. The large butterflies and "geisha" are broderie perse applique by hand (sorry for lack of accents on the words!) Minimum amount of Kona Bay fabric has to be 75%, so I am on target. My "other" fabric allowance is taken up with the ombre shaded pink/burgundy for the beams, shoji and fusuma frames and tracks, and the stripes for the tatami mats. The photo shows work in progress, with the first arrangement of butterfly and flower appliques - these have been changed slightly. I am planning to hand quilt it, although this might not be as dense as I would like. I really need 48 hours in the day.

I will be demonstrating sashiko at the Nantwich fabric sale at the Civic Hall, Nantwich, on Sunday, January 20th. Hopefully the new projects will be back from David & Charles in time for my display. I will have the new book for visitors to preview and will be giving away free postcards of the book cover. There's more event information here - http://www.thequiltingweb.com/Whats%20on.htm

My other new projects, which I will only be hinting at for now, are new things on the book front... so keep checking the blog for updates from time to time! Suffice to say that bags are involved!

Kimono sewing demonstrations at Llangollen are going to include resewing a woman's wool hitoe (unlined) kimono as a man's, changing the sleeve details. I hope to post a photo of this when it is finished.

"Japanese Sashiko Inspirations" - advance copy

Out of the blue, my advance copy arrived just in time for Christmas! I'm very happy with the overall design of the book - Cheryl, Beth, Martin and the team at David & Charles have done another stunning job. I'm sure you will find it an invaluable treasury of design inspirations. It will be available from my website http://www.susanbriscoe.co.uk/ from late February onwards. Like my first sashiko book, it is paperback and will be £15.99.

The other surprise was this - "The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook" in Chinese! So far I have only seen the cover. It is so exciting to see the book translated into such a widely spoken language. I've tried Google translating it and tried working out the meanings of the individual characters - the sense seems to be something like "feel the breeze of hand embroidery stab stitch". If you can translate Chinese, please give me a better translation!

Great Northern Quilt Show, Harrogate

I got home late last night after three days at the Great Northern Quilt Show at Harrogate. The show seems to have taken on a new lease of life this year, returning to the usual hall and with lots of really great entries. I wasn't judging, so I had a bit more time to set up my demo and sales stand, just as well with all the stuff I had taken! With a 4.5 metre frontage, I needed some help to cover it all, so my mum & friend Debbie from Gresford Craft Group gave me a hand every day.

I entered my Kasuri Sampler quilt (right) in the Large Wallhanging section, where it won a rosette - second or third, I'll have to check! My other quilts in the competition were "Dancing Colours" and "Oriental Log Cabin Sampler"(top),which won the Scrap Quilt award (these photos were taken before the quilt show).

The blocks for the Kasuri Sampler are all from my latest book, "Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match", here http://www.susanbriscoe.co.uk/japanquilts.htm Other quilts from the book are going on tour with Grosvenor Exhibitions next year, from September, so look out for them around the UK.

Tomorrow I'm doing the cutout photography for next year's sashiko book, "Japanese Sashiko Inspirations", with our photographer Karl Adamson, so there's lots to sort out for that, mostly vintage items from my collection that have been the design sources for the new project. Plus there's the car to unpack... lots to do!