Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking part in a Japanese Kaleidoscope Quilt class with internationally renowned quilter/textile artist Jan Preston. It was arranged by Leanne of Kimono House (there’s a terrific profile of Kimono House here as well). The class ran from 10.00am to 3.00pm and at the end of the day I had finished this:
one lonely little quilt block (actually, not quite finished)! This is a totally hand-sewn and hand-pieced quilt, which forced me to slow down significantly and enjoy the process. I do have a few more under way:
We learned how to do sashiko embroidery, which I particularly enjoyed. So effective and simple, but difficult to get perfect. The sashiko stitching makes a beautiful secondary design of circles on a finished quilt piece. I am a member of Kimono House’s fabric club, so have amassed a nice pile of squares of Japanese fabric which will be showcased beautifully in this quilt. It is definitely going to be a long-term project for me – I figure about ten years? There’s no hurry!
I’ve found a little tutorial on sashiko, and Sharon has stitched a number of beautiful pieces. There is even a Flickr pool on sashiko! Here is another example of the kaleidoscope quilt block, done in completely different colours to mine. Another crafty interest to add to the ever-burgeoning list!