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Sidmouth Revisited - ready for Today's Quilter

August 30, 2016, 2:24 am
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The quilt is waiting to be collected by the courier now...


I will add some more quilting when it comes back to me - like square diamonds (cross hatching) between the feather wreath and the circle segments, and some other details in the borders, radiating lines around the centre rosette etc.  I wish I knew what time the courier would be here, because I could have added a bit more quilting this morning!



A tip on how to mark a fan when the paper isn't big enough for the template size you want...


It is going to be in the Christmas issue.
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Great Northern Quilt Show again!

August 30, 2016, 3:59 am
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The Great Northern Quilt Show at Harrogate opens on Friday for three days.  We will be in the brand new hall at the showground, so it will be interesting to see what it is like!


Like last year, I had a demo stand and a sales stand together, so we have brought lots of lovely Japanese silks, wools and cottons, including some new narrow width plain fabrics that are perfect for sashiko, the fine Yuza Sashiko thread, needles, marking pens etc.  Unfortunately, due to the fall in the exchange rate against the Yen, I had quite a shock when I ordered pens and needles today, and the prices have had to go up a bit.  However, I managed to place a big order for fabrics just before the referendum, so while prices per metre have gone up a little, it isn't as much as might be expected, given that the £GBP is now around only two thirds of what it was this time last year.


I remade Fanoe in blue and white yukata fabrics earlier in the year and I have restocked with lots of these wonderful vintage blues. I also have a big selection of more colourful chusen stencilled yukata cottons with larger patterns, which I am selling in 1m increments.  They make excellent panels for Japanese style 'scroll' wallhangings.  The one I'm making, with the noshi (ribbon bundle) motif on an indigo background, is hanging on the far right in this photo.


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All set up for the Great Northern Quilt Show

September 1, 2016, 1:15 pm
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We have got everything set up for the Great Northern Quilt Show, which opens tomorrow at Harrogate, in the new hall - a lovely, spacious venue.

During the autumn quilt shows, Grosvenor are touring a selection of quilts by Barbara Howell.   We had a wonderful retrospective of her work at Quiltfest in Llangollen in 2014.  This may be the last chance to see some of her work on show.



I have the last few copies of her book, 'Ideas for Textiles from the Celtic Heritage' for sale at my stand (126 - 127), on behalf of her son Rob.  Copies are £5 each and the money will be donated to charity.


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End of the first day at Harrogate

September 2, 2016, 12:59 pm
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At the end of a busy day!  We had a great day today, meeting so many quilting friends.  My workshop was full too.  I'll get some photos of the quilts tomorrow.


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More photos from the Great Northern Quilt Show

September 16, 2016, 5:36 am
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Here is a selection of quilts from the show a couple of weeks ago, starting with best in show.  Enjoy! Left click on the photos to see them in more detail.




I chose this wonderful small Welsh style wholecloth as my Judge's Choice.  Gorgeous.





Had this pictorial quilt been in the competition, it would have been a very tough decision between it and the Welsh quilt!









Barbara's quilts will be shown at the Scottish Quilt Championships next weekend.



 Liz Binns students produced some superb frame quilts.  There isn't room to show them all, but I particularly liked the graded pinwheels in the border of this one.













This quilt was very interesting for me, as it was made from a Golden Hands book published in the 1970s - what a real 70s quilt looks like.








Andrea Stracke's wholecloth (above) and a lovely quilt in Kaffe Fassett prints and plaids - but I can't see the maker's name!  If you know, please tell me.

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World Textile Day East

September 16, 2016, 5:50 am
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We had a great day at World Textile Day at Mundford near Thetford, Norfolk, last Saturday.  So we will be coming back next year!

Here's a few photos of us being rather busy.  Most of the fabrics on the back of the stand are stencilled cotton yukata - lovely for wallhangings, improvisational quilts and anywhere that large, bold designs will show to their advantage.



A view of the hall during one of the quieter moments, when most visitors were in the lecture room.


Glyn with his brother's girlfriend Claudine.  As usual, it was a great chance to catch up with friends.


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Shinto clothing

September 16, 2016, 7:10 am
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This link to information about Shinto vestments was posted on the Immortal Geisha Facebook page today - click here.  It explains why Shinto vestments have evolved along different lines from most Japanese kimono. Like Catholic and Anglican vestments which have their origins in the Court dress of the Byzantine Empire, Shinto vestments are descended from the Heian Imperial Court in Japan, which was in turn influenced by Chinese Tang Dynasty court clothing.  The photo above and the video clips were taken at Yawata, Yuza-machi, during the 'dress rehearsal' for the Hanagasa-mai (Flower Hat Dance) on Children's Day (5th May) 2014.





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Scottish Quilt Championships next weekend

September 19, 2016, 2:47 am
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I am getting ready for the Scottish Quilt Championships this week, which start on Friday and run until Sunday.  There's so much to do, including putting a hanging sleeve on my hearts quilt below.  I'm not sure quite what the stand will look like, as we are going to be in a different hall this year, the Lowland Hall, and the access is much, much better than the old MacRobert Pavilion, as this year's hall is all on one level - no stairs!  Reiko Domon's wonderful 'A Hill in Edinburgh' is also entered.




I am doing the same workshop I taught at the Spring Quilt Festival, 'A Celtic Maze in Sashiko'.  I don't usually repeat my workshops at the same location, but I only taught this one once at the Spring Quilt Festival, because I could only attend on the Friday, so I have made an exception.  As usual, I would recommend getting there early and going straight to the workshop desk as all the workshops sell out very quickly.  Sunday is often the easiest day to get a workshop place, as there are fewer visitors first thing in the morning.  Glyn designed this workshop and I have found his original piece of sashiko, so I will be bringing that with my workshop samples.  His isn't perfect but still looks good, and he was a complete beginner when he stitched it - if he can make a good job of it, so can you.

I have THREE FREE TICKETS to give away.  If you would like one, please contact me, by e mail (the address is on my website) or Facebook (private messages do get seen, even if you are not a Facebook 'friend').  I won't post them out this time, but will leave them at the ticket desk in an envelope with your name on, if you win.  First come, first served is the rule.  Good luck!
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Quilts from the Scottish Quilt Championships - part 1

September 28, 2016, 12:09 am
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Here are a few of the winners from the Scottish Quilt Championships at Edinburgh last weekend.  Sheena Norquay won overall, with this amazing wallhanging, all machine quilted of course.







 Reiko Domon's quilt won third prize in the Theme Category, Poetic Expressions.




Linzi Upton's Tartan Tattoo was just amazing!  Very hard to take decent photos of it too.





Andrea Stracke entered a beautiful North Country style wholecloth, very well designed.




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Quilts from the Scottish Quilt Championships - part 2

September 28, 2016, 12:49 am
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This sampler quilt must have caused more than a few visitors to do a double take, as a very similar quilt won the Great Northern Quilt Show only a few weeks before.


This is the one from Harrogate - 




It would be great to see them shown together sometime.



Quilts in the 'Modern Quilt' style are becoming more popular.  The winner of the Group category was a refreshing change from the usual kinds of winner, as 'panel' quilts seem to have dominated at many shows in recent years (which IMHO aren't proper group quilts really, when each strip is made by an individual)




 More minimalist but perfectly done quilting on this beauty.



This was another contender for my Judge's Choice award.  The silks and quilting glowed.  Very hard to photograph well!  Fabulous quilting but also stunning piecing, all in silk, from Kay Bell.
 





Hand quilting and embellishment from Frieda Oxenham.  The embellishments were a fully integrated part of the design, as usual from Frieda.  There were quite a few quilts with beads, crystals etc. but with this one, they were 50% of the design and the quilt wouldn't work without them.



This very textured blackhouse pictorial quilt was one of our favourites at the Great Northern Quilt Show and it was lovely to see it again.  Amazing use of materials.


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Scottish Quilt Championships - part 3

September 28, 2016, 1:06 am
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Here are two quilts that weren't in the competition.  The first was made from my 'Japanese Taupe Quilt Blocks' book and is quilt as you go.  Amazing!  A lot of the blocks look so like the ones I made, it gives me a real sense of deja vu!


The second quilt is an antique Log Cabin owned by Gilly Thomson of Kekfesto Cotton, the Hungarian blue print cotton store.  It has a great selection of Turkey Red prints and shirtings - makes me want to make the Turkey Red Log Cabin I've been planning for years!




Many of the dark blue fabrics are so similar to Gilly's cottons, I can see why she had to have this quilt!  It was recently shown at Festival of Quilts, in the Quilters' Guild's Traditional Group's exhibit.


Here's a photo from Festival, courtesy of Lorchen Nunn -


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Yuza Sashiko current exhibition at the Sanno Club, Sakata

September 29, 2016, 12:31 am
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My friend Reiko Domon has posted these wonderful photos of Yuza Sashiko Guild's current exhibition at the Sanno Club in Sakata on her Facebook page and I am sure she will not mind me showing you them here!  If you are in Sakata before the exhibition closes on October 10th, it is not to be missed.


I was there for the exhibition in 2014 - you can see photos and videos of that one here. The small sampler on the right above is from my final course at The Studio, Loch Lomond.  I hope to take some of last year's student pieces to Japan next time Yuza Sashiko Guild have an exhibition at the Sanno Club.  It is a beautiful old building and perfect for exhibitions.








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The Spring Quilt Festival will be coming to Harrogate!

September 29, 2016, 2:34 am
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I have just had some exciting news from Grosvenor Shows.  The Spring Quilt Festival will be coming to Harrogate next year, from 24th to 26th February, in the same venue as the Great Northern Quilt Show.  I am planning to be there.

This also means that the Spring Quilt Festival at Edinburgh will move to the previous weekend, 17th to 19th February.  This is due to the move from the MacRobert Pavilion into the new Lowland Hall - the excellent venue we were in last weekend for the Scottish Quilt Championships.  So I am planning to do both shows, one weekend after the other.
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Sashiko courses in Perth and Stockton-on-Tees

September 30, 2016, 6:57 am
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The next sashiko course at Edinburgh patchwork will be starting on 8th October and it has been fully booked for a while now. 

I will be running another course in Scotland starting quite soon - at The Peacock and the Tortoise in Perth.  I've been teaching introductory sashiko day workshops there for a few years and it is great to have the opportunity to run the course quite close to home.  It will be on Thursdays, with the following dates -  2nd, 16th, 30th March; 13th, 27th April; 25th May; 8th and 15th June.  Some of the classes are slightly closer together than usual, as they have patchwork classes using their workroom on the alternate weeks.  Booking will be via the shop.  If you can't wait for that course to begin and would like a head start, I am also doing an Introduction to Shonai Sashiko one day course on Friday 21st October, at the same shop.

I've been visiting my mum quite a lot over the summer and have come up with a plan to teach my sashiko course in Stockton-on-Tees next year.  I have found a great venue - All Saints Church, in Hartburn, Stockton-on-Tees, which is just off the A66.  It used to be the village school and is a well lit space, just right for a hand sewing group.  My plan is to run the class on a weekday, possibly a Tuesday, and at roughly one month intervals, with a break for Christmas and New Year, starting in mid September. I will be handling all the bookings for that, so if you are interested, please e mail through my website.

The gorgeous sampler at the top of this post was stitched by Hazel Clark, who came to the course I taught at Kaleidoscope earlier this year.  We will run the course again there sometime in the future, but we need to discuss possible dates first.

Plus, there will be a chance to see sashiko samplers made by students on all four of my longer courses so far, at the Spring Quilt Festivals with Grosvenor Shows around the UK, starting at Ardingly in January and finishing at Exeter in April.
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The Kimono Closet blog

September 30, 2016, 7:18 am
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Edinburgh - first sashiko class

October 10, 2016, 2:19 am
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Our new sashiko course at Edinburgh Patchwork got off to a great start on Saturday.  As well as the more usual versions of jujizashi ('10' cross stitch) and komezashi (rice stitch) that were made, Fiona came up with this variation on jujizashi -


And Stephen experimented with this version of komezashi -


I must find where I put my book about the Awaji fishermen's donza, as there are very similar variations in that book.

I'm back in Edinburgh next Saturday for a talk about the 1718 coverlet at Thistle Quilters - https://sites.google.com/site/thistlequilters/program  In addition to it being a bit of a Q & A about the coverlet, I'm going to show the slideshow of how the book was made and run another slide show of the coverlet detail photos during our question and answer session.  Should be interesting!

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Lots of things in today's post including...

October 12, 2016, 8:08 am
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Sidmouth Revisited.  The quilt came back by courier today and my subscription copy of the magazine arrived as well, so it will be in the shops in a few days.  The quilt looks lovely in the styled photo (detail above) and as usual the magazine has done a terrific job with the instructions and diagrams.  For a quilt that looks fairly random and isn't difficult to put together, it has a lot of subtle differences in measurements as the patchwork progresses outwards through the various frames.

Now 'all' I have to do is add some more quilting and make sure I get my entry forms in for the West Country Quilt Show next month!

The other things that came were some more Japanese plain cottons for sashiko.  As the reds and browns have been very popular and sold out quickly last time, I've now got plenty.  The darker red will make a great background for one of the panels I'm stitching for the one off workshop at Edinburgh Patchwork in December - more details of that soon.
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Darelle's Dryslwyn Dreams

October 13, 2016, 3:24 am
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Darelle Castelow sent me a photo of her version of Dryslwyn Dreams, which was my version of a quilt that used to be in Jen Jones's collection.  Re the fabrics, she says -

I've done this much and have next colours sorted.  I got into a threesome   red cream red pink.   Have to be more accurate... but  I don't guarantee to get it finished for a while.

I used fabrics from a Richmond Red layer cake, Nancy Gere 1875 JR,  Jane Austen, Dutch Heritage, Victoria Park, 1840 Birds & Basics, New England Museum and others with no selvedge/name.    The filler is Pearl Essence.  Hmmm might call it Dryslwyn Essence...

It is looking beautiful in this warmer colour scheme, which reminds me a bit of the reds and browns I used for Cinnabar and Nutmeg.  Always a winning combination for antique inspired quilts.   I hope I get to see a photo of it finished - I can wait!  Thanks very much for the photo of work so far.









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A Chinese Textile Adventure talk

October 18, 2016, 3:45 am
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Tonight I'm giving my new talk for the first time, 'A Chinese Textile Adventure', which is (mainly!) about my trip to China in 2015.  I'm using a new projector which a much higher resolution than the one we have for World Textile Day, so I'm hoping the images will look just as good on a large screen as they do on my wall.

As well as the slideshow, I'm taking the pieces of embroidery and batik I brought back from my trip, and a few other pieces from my collection.  I don't have anything like as much in the way of Chinese textiles as I do Japanese, but I started collecting when I was a student, just things that came my way.  Unfortunately I won't be including these two, as I still haven't unpacked them from the house move and I'm not sure which box they are in (there are still many costume boxes to unpack...)


The talk is in Inverness tonight, with Highland Quilters.
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Introduction to Shonai Sashiko in Perth

October 19, 2016, 4:37 am
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I'm teaching Introduction to Shonai Sashiko at The Peacock and the Tortoise in Perth on Friday - course booking details are here (although they seem to have got the wrong photo on the website!)
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