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Annie's boromono - finished

October 27, 2016, 6:04 am
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Annie Horrocks sent me a photo of the boromono she started at the Japanese Art Quilt Boromono workshop I taught at Broughton Gifford in 2012.  She's added hand dyed fabrics for the circles and lots of sashiko style stitching. 

This is how it looked at the end of the workshop.  The colour scheme is very restrained but there's lots of texture in the fabrics, which makes this small boromono really lovely and modern.

 


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Last week's sashiko workshops

November 8, 2016, 2:40 am
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I had a full week of travel, talks and workshops, visiting Leicestershire and Norfolk.  Both Cosby Quilters near Leicester and Flying Geese quilters in Snettisham did my Introduction to Shonai Sashiko workshop.  I didn't get photos of their work but, for once, I did take some photos of my workshop samples - a mixture of the ones I've done for my Yuza Sashiko sampler with my regular groups and ones where I've experimented with fabrics and thread colours.  The photo above shows Cosby Quilters hard at work.



Here's Flying Geese busy stitching.


This lovely panel was made previously by one of their members.


I gave two talks, for Leicester Quilters and the Cosby group.  As I was showing Cosby some of my quilts inspired by traditions (of various kinds), there were quite a number of large quilt tops in the talk.  I must get these tacked up and quilted soon!




In between the talks and workshops, I had a day off and went with my host Jo to her embroidery group, where we made little leaves using Lutradur (sorry, no photos of those!)  I also managed to add some more quilting to Sidmouth Revisited, in time for it to be sent to the West Country Quilt Show.



I added hearts in the corners and beech leaves in the outer borders, all with doubled outlines. It is easier to see the quilting from the back of course. I still want to add a lot more quilting before it goes off to a few shows next year.  At 95in square approx., there is a lot of quilt to cover.


Having the hanging sleeve on the quilt in time for my second talk meant we could at least hang it up.  It is a heavy quilt, so that spared out gallant quilt holders a little.


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West Country Quilt Show and the MaoNan Textile Ladies

November 8, 2016, 3:01 am
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I will be on stand 48 at the West Country Quilt Show in Bristol this weekend, demoing sashiko, and have entered Sidmouth Revisited (above) into the competition.

Angel Yao is coming to the show with some of the MaoNan Textile Ladies.  That's the group who made the blocks for this quilt when I went to China in 2015.  I'm taking the quilt with me so she can take it back with her.  I'm not sure at the moment whose stand it will be displayed on, but I am sure it will be somewhere!

 

These are some of the patchwork things that the MaoNan group have made since my course.  I think they are also going to be demonstrating traditional embroidery, but I won't know exactly what they are going to be showing/demoing until we meet up again on Thursday.



UPDATE - As far as I know, Angel and Ting have arrived safely in the UK.  Bad news re the embroidery demonstrators however.  One of them could not get a visa and, without her, the other embroiderer we had coming didn't want to make the trip (a bit understandable when it is your first big international trip).  So there will be an exhibition of their work, Angel and Ting are going to wear MaoNan costume, but unfortunately neither of them is an embroidery expert!  I am really disappointed as I was looking forward to seeing some of the Textile Ladies over here.  Once we know exactly what the visa problem was, I may suggest trying again in a few years' time - maybe coming to Edinburgh.  We will see.
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Fiona's ukiyo-e quilt

November 8, 2016, 3:19 am
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Fiona Fitheridge showed me some photos of her fab completed ukiyo-e fabric quilt this morning on Facebook, so I asked if I could share them here.  I brought the fabric back from my last trip to Tokyo.  I think the prints are all by Utamaro.  Although it looks a bit like some of the Kona Bay ukiyo-e print fabrics, it is a different brand.  I liked the colours in the prints - very restrained, Autumnal colours, with touches of orange.  I bought a panel for each of us, but I haven't had time to make mine up yet.

 

Fiona added some applique blocks from my Japanese Taupe Quilt Blocks book.  I don't think I'll have time to do anything like this for my quilt.  It is all hand quilted too.  I love the colour and block combinations.
 

 

She might recognise the border fabric though, as we got the same wide backing fabric at the Spring Quilt Festival in Edinburgh two years ago!  I am also planning to use mine in the border, as well as for the backing. Mine might use a version my 'Japanese Circles and Squares' blocks, as they would be quick to make.  It might be a spring project...
 

I'm a bit busy at the moment doing things like these -


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West Country Quilt Show

November 12, 2016, 1:46 pm
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We are having a great time at the West Country Quilt Show in Bristol this weekend.  


Sidmouth Revisited is hanging well.


Angel and Ting have brought a great selection of hand embroidered and natural indigo dyed textiles from Guizhou Province in south western China.  From left - Martin Conlan (Slow Loris), Angel and Ting.


Lovely seeing the MaoNan Textile Ladies' group quilt hanging next to a selection of colourful MaoNan hand embroidered pieces.


Natural indigo hand dyed fabrics from Guizhou Province.


Miao embroideries.


More photos soon!
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West Country Quilt Show - part 2

November 14, 2016, 12:37 pm
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Here are a small selection of some of the work I liked at the show.  For most of them, I've been able to upload a detail photo showing the quilter's information about their work.  The photo wouldn't upload for a couple of them.  There were some excellent individual and group galleries at this show, but I didn't have enough power left on the camera battery to photograph everything I wanted.   Especially if you like contemporary and modern quilts, this show has a lot to offer and is really worth a visit.  Next year, it will be in September, before the university opens for the Autumn term, so parking will be easier.  Enjoy!
































These pots and vessels are by Gillian Travis - 







By Lesley Brankin, with images of Malvern - 














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Reiko Domon of Yuza Sashiko Guild wins award

November 17, 2016, 2:51 am
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We had some exciting news via Reiko Domon's brother in law Yasui Tokumasa last week.  Her quilts have won the Minister of Education Award at the Japan Handcraft Association's exhibition at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.  The photo above shows Reiko (left) at the exhibition with her sister Shoko and one of her winning quilts, which I am sure many of you will recognise from earlier blog posts.


Izumi Sato posted the newspaper cutting above on Facebook.


Congratulations Reiko!  Her work is superb.


When Yuza Sashiko showed their work at the Loch Lomond Quilt Show in 2014, Reiko included this quilt.


Details of her amazing sashiko stitching.  Reiko has taken traditional hitomezashi patterns from Yuza-machi but arranged them to fan outwards in circles.


Her adaptation of traditional sashiko in this way is so beautiful.  You need to understand how the patterns work very well to be able to play with them like this.


Yuza Sashiko will also be exhibiting work at the Yamagata Exhibition of Excellence (Yamagata no Iimono Tenji) on Saturday.  I hope someone will post photos from that too.


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Sashiko workshop at Edinburgh Patchwork next Saturday

November 29, 2016, 1:43 am
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The photo above isn't my workshop sample - I'm still stitching that - but it shows you another design on the same theme.  My pine, plum and bamboo panel for the class has bigger plum blossoms and is inside a traditional snowflake outline.

- Sashiko workshop on Saturday 3rd December at Edinburgh Patchwork.

I've got just four places left - anyone interested? We will be learning a traditional method of making templates by paper folding, with the choice of making either a pine, plum and bamboo panel ('sho chiku bai' or the three friends of winter, a New Year design) or a cherry blossom and fan panel - or you can mark up both. We will be stitching with coloured threads too.  Please contact me asap via my website if you would like to come.
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Sashiko from Scotland

December 13, 2016, 2:23 am
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Here's a sneak peak at some of the sashiko samplers by last year's Edinburgh Patchwork sashiko course which will be part of the Sashiko from Scotland exhibit touring to all the Grosvenor Spring Quilt Festivals, starting at Ardingly and finishing at Exeter - from left to right, by Penny McLaren, Pamela Lyall and Sam Townsend. Pamela's is a first quilt too! This is the introduction I've written for the exhibition -


This exhibition is a selection of sashiko sampler quilts from the four courses I taught in Scotland since 2013 - two at The Studio, Loch Lomond; one at Edinburgh Patchwork and the fourth at Kaleidoscope, near Glasgow.  Ruth Higham, who founded The Studio with Isabel Patterson and Patricia Macindoe, persuaded me that there were enough stitchers interested in Japanese sashiko to run a longer course. The Studio was prepared to host it, so I ran the first eight day course there, over 10 months.  We did many Yuza and Shonai Sashiko patterns, drawing on my links with Yuza Sashiko Guild, and it has evolved to include a wide variety of larger sashiko designs over the years, so later samplers have grown!  My aim is to introduce the students to various pattern marking and stitching techniques, so by the end of the course they can look at almost any piece of sashiko and say ‘I can try that!’ 

I will be running courses at Edinburgh Patchwork and in Stockton-on-Tees from September 2017.  My next course starts at The Peacock and the Tortoise in Perth in March and we are looking at running another course at Kaleidoscope.  Please contact me for details via www.susanbriscoe.co.uk


This is our second Edinburgh Patchwork group at their third session last Saturday.  They are producing some lovely work, both for their samplers and other smaller projects some of them are doing on their own, in between classes.

 

These are some of the sashiko panels that were started at the previous weekend's day class, where we made flowers, leaves and Japanese motif templates by paper folding and used those to make designs.



Penny's noren curtain has a moon and crane motif, but the marking doesn't show up much in the photo!



Fiona and Jo had got most of their panels stitched by Saturday.  Lovely use of colour in these sashiko panels.  I'm looking forward to seeing the others finished.



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Sashiko from Scotland - any more samplers?

December 14, 2016, 8:13 am
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If everyone who has already promised their samplers for our exhibition at the Spring Quilt Festivals can get them to Kaleidoscope as planned, we'll have 15 quilts, but Grosvenor Shows have just been in touch to say that they can fit in some more!  So if there are any more out there that could be included, please contact me as soon as possible.  Susan at Kaleidoscope will be able to collect quilts until the end of Saturday 21st January, as they need to have their van packed and ready for the long drive down to the first quilt show at Ardingly at the beginning of the following week.

I haven't been able to contact everyone who came to the first two sashiko courses at The Studio, Loch Lomond, as Isabel no longer has the contact lists with all the student names.  But I would love to have some more samplers from this group.  As well as the sampler, I need a title and a brief description (30 - 40 words is fine) which will be displayed alongside the quilts at the show.

Fingers crossed we will track down a few more samplers to include.  My contact details are on my website www.susanbriscoe.co.uk - e mail is best.
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Solstice at Llanarmon-yn-Ial 2016

December 21, 2016, 12:58 am
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Denise's Solstice speech and the mummer's play.  Happy Solstice!
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Sashiko in... Stockton!

December 22, 2016, 10:16 am
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I will be running my sashiko course in Hartburn, Stockton-on-Tees, from September 2017.  The venue will be All Saints Church, TS18 5EB, in the middle of Hartburn village (NB, there is another All Saints in Stockton, but the postcode will give you the right one!)  The course will run on the following Tuesdays, from 11.30 a.m. to 4.30p.m. - 12th September, 10th October, 14th November, 28th November, 16th January, 6th February, 27th February, 27th March and 24th April.

The samplers above were made by three of the students from my Edinburgh course which finished earlier this year - from the left, Penny McLaren, Pamela Lyall and Sam Townsend.

As we will have a slightly later start than the courses I run in Scotland and therefore slightly shorter sessions, I'm running the course over 9 sessions rather than 8 and will divide out the course content slightly differently.  Each session costs £35, payable one session in advance each time.  If you would like to join us, please contact me via my website.

I will be arranging the 2017 - 2018 dates for the Edinburgh Patchwork sashiko course soon!
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Architectural inspirations for quilting - Oxbridge

December 24, 2016, 5:12 am
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The people who lived in Stockton-on-Tees in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries built some very decorative public and private buildings.  While some of the buildings in the town centre are quite well known for their decorative brickwork and woodwork, I've been wanting to take photos of various architectural details along Oxbridge Lane for while.  Many of them would be great resources for quilting patterns.  The gable ends of Oxbridge Lane school, my dad's old school, built in 1890, show Dutch influences.  Unfortunately the commemorative stone has eroded over the years.

 

These decorative brick panels on the gables are very Arts and Crafts influenced.


Part of the same panel appears on the front of a rendered house opposite the cemetery.


There's a similar ornate gable over this shop, one of several identical ones on the same building.


Fancy barge boards and finials must have graced many houses when they were first built.  Spot the floral panel again.


This late Victorian house is being restored at the moment.  Luckily the original woodwork looks like it was still in great condition.  I love the heart and swag motifs and the trefoil cutouts at the ends.


The main gable on the same house.


A slightly later semi (maybe c1920?).  This front door also has a colourful stained glass panel which looks original.


Another beautiful original porch.


More original stained glass in this fanlight.


Scrolls and leaves support this lintel.


There are many more elegant designs seen at Oxbridge Cemetery.



The original cemetery railings were removed during WWII. I don't know if the gates are original or replacements, but they are much more substantial than the railings seen on modern houses in the area.  More scrolls and fleurs de lys across the central bar.


Many houses in this area must have originall had cast iron railings, now all gone, and often replaced with wooden fences.  Beyond the roundabout, there's a lot of ivy about.


Further along the lane, some of the original street signs remain.



Most of the 1930s and later semi detached houses haven't fared as well as some of the Victorian ones with their doors and windows.  Almost all of them have large bay or bow windows, which have all rotted and had to be replaced.  The modern stained glass and faux leading doesn't give the same kind of reflections as the originals and the colours are quite different too.  This looked like one of the few old windows left on these houses.


I only spotted one original front door further along the lane.  I walked along this road many times when I lived in Stockton and used to love the patterns in the stained glass and other architectural details when I was a child.  Now I think there must be a quilt design in them!


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New Year in Tokyo

December 31, 2016, 12:44 am
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We arrived yesterday (30th December) and everywhere there are preparations for New Year.  This small shrine is near our hotel, and has pine and bamboo decorations called kadomatsu flanking the entrance.  Kadomatsu can be small or quite elaborate.


We arrived, but our luggage didn't, because flights going into and out of Schiphol were delayed due to fog on the 29th.  The weather was good at Edinburgh, and all the way down the east coast. So the time between our flights ended up as about half an hour, which wasn't enough time for our checked in baggage to be transferred.  It is due to arrive at our hotel at 12 tomorrow, even though it is New Year's day. 


This was the view at Schiphol - no airport!


It was clear again coming into Tokyo.


Glyn outside the hotel.  Mystays is a chain, with small but well set up rooms that are more like apato (small apartments), as there's a fridge and microwave, so you can cook in the room if you like.  This one is near Kuramae station, so it is convenient for Asakusa, where we will be going this evening to hear the temple bell ring in the New Year.



Kadomatsu, large and small.


Some places are already selling New Year fukubukuro'lucky bags' outside.


We walked along the Sumida river to Kototoi bridge this morning, and will return to Ushijima shrine in Sumida Park for hatsumode tonight, after going to the Sensoji temple to hear the bell rung 108 times for New Year.  I will also get hamaya or a 'breaking demons arrow' at the shrine.


We were quite close to the Tokyo Skytree, but didn't go up it.


A map of Sumida -


The Asahi Superdry hall.

 Camellias are in bloom everywhere.


We called in at the Amuse Museum shop on our way back via the shopping streets near the Nakamise-dori, where we had lunch (away from the Sensoji, in less touristy areas, a lot of places have closed for New Year).  It got these excellent books about Taisho kimono design and meisen kimono.


A bilingual book about hanten and happi has some rather interesting information about the true identity of Edo era sashiko firemen's hanten - it turns out they were not worn by firemen at all.  The small book is a handy little moncho or crest book, which I can keep with my teaching things.


We quickly called into Yuzawaya to get some books with patterns for hanafukin (decorative cloth) sashiko designs too.


More later!

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Happy New Year!

December 31, 2016, 10:46 pm
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At Sensoji temple last night, for Hatsumode.  We arrived a bit early, about 9p.m., before it got really busy.






There were lots of stalls selling food - we had okunomiyaki (savoury pancake) and yakiimo (baked sweet potato).


 

Most of the people we saw in kimono had been to rental studios.  You can guess them by the combination of polyester kimono, very fancy obijime ties (styles more suited to furisode than komon), and the obligatory non-seasonal flower decoration in the hairstyle.



Lots of people wishing us Happy New Year!


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Little Adventures in Tokyo

January 3, 2017, 5:52 pm
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On January 2nd, we walked along the banks of the Sumida River towards Sumida Park and then Asakusa.  Even the river boats have New Year decorations - this one had a small kadomatsu at the prow.



A lot of the people wearing kimono around Asakusa look like they have been to the local rental studios.


We went to Ushijima Shrine again, next to Sumida Park, where we did our proper Hatsumode (first shrine visit of the year).


It was much busier than on New Year's eve (the sacred cow statue on our previous visit is below).

 

We got a hanaya arrow - 'demon arrow' - against bad luck in 2017.



New Year's eve (below).


On our way to the Amuse Museum, we saw a small flea market near the Sensoji temple.  I got several interesting tanmono, including this nagoya obi.  The orange and white kimono was very tempting too, but I resisted.  We will be going to Setagaya Boroichi, the really big flea market, on January 16th.  Glyn was looking at the tea kettles for tea ceremony



Lots of stalls around the Asakusa shrine, next to Sensoji, were selling New Year decorations, daruma etc.





Looking across to the Sensoji from the roof of the Amuse Museum, you can see the crowds queuing at the temple.




We watched the moon rise from the museum roof terrace.



Photos from the Amuse Museum will be my next post - soon!
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Tokyo essentials - threads and hi fi components

January 7, 2017, 12:51 am
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We rounded off our short stay in Tokyo with a bit more exploring and some essential shopping - sashiko threads from Yuzawaya in Kamata (which usually has a good selection) and a trip to Akihabara for Glyn.




This time the stalls had what he wanted - silicone tubing, Nikon Muse non polarised signal capacitors, and 4mm gold plated sockets to upgrade the speaker terminals on the Tannoy drivers.  Last time, he managed to ask for things that even every stall in Akihabara didn't have!


Then a quick trip to Tokyu Hands in Ikebukuro to pick up a few bits and pieces for his next turntable project - ebony stripwood and brass for a new counterweight on the tone arm.


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Back to Yuza-machi

January 7, 2017, 3:57 am
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We came to Yuza by shinkansen and limited express train ('Inaho' or rice ear) via Niigata on Thursday.  I had a cold and we were still feeling a bit unwell with jet lag and recovering from our New Year's sickness, so we took a cab to Ueno station and got there early enough for Glyn to get his favourite Tokyo Banana cakes.  Souvenir cake shops are a big feature of Japanese railway stations.


I was travelling incognito because my cold had become a nasty cough.



The landscape changed as we travelled north.


It got quite snowy.




After Niigata, the train runs along the coast, in and out of bays and through tunnels.





Reiko, Chie, Keiko and Sakuraba-san were there to meet us.   There was also a sashiko planning meeting that afternoon, for the new Yuza Sashiko book, which will be published in spring 2017.


In Yuza, it snowed that evening.  But the snow didn't last too long.  On Friday morning, we went to Yuza Sashiko's weekly meeting at their new meeting place.



 Here are some projects in progress by different group members.  The first is a kotatsu table cover.



The sashiko is arranged to look good from all four sides.




The striped cotton is cleverly used in the patchwork.



Each section of this noshi panel will be filled in with a different Yuza Sashiko stitch.  Reiko filled in some parts of the outline freehand.


The new room is not too big, with a nice fresh feeling and lots of light.


Keiko is making a very interesting design, overlaying a wool tartan from MacNaughton's in Perth with a pattern by Hokusai.



We met Suzuki-san for the first time when we visited in 2014 and she had been doing sashiko for about 2 years.  Her new hanten jacket is lovely and the stitches are so even.



Another noshi design, almost completed.


Auditioning a patchwork border.


Reiko's award winning quilt came home from Scotland.



More later!
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Amahage alert!

January 7, 2017, 10:08 am
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On the evening of January 6th, we went to a small onsen ryokan in Torisaki district, at the very north western tip of Yamagata Prefecture.  Three small meals were arranged in front of the kamidana.  Amahage, Yuza-machi's New Year demons, were coming!


I saw this traditional event for the first time in 1992, when I worked in Yuza as an Assistant English Teacher on the JET Programme and spotted some information about this year's event on Yamagata's tourist portal here.  Amahage are similar to Namahage, which are found in nearby Akita Prefecture.  In 1992, they came for naughty children and lazy people.  As the members of Yuza Sashiko who were with us are very industrious, we felt quite safe, but...


 We could hear the drum nearby, announcing the Amahage's arrival.  They travel on foot.




The Amahage feast!


On the way out, they spotted Yuza Sashiko members...



Maybe we all didn't sew enough sashiko!  I'd lost my voice the day before, so I couldn't even scream or shout properly.  But we escaped!


One of the Amahage's shimenawa ropes was given to the ryokan, for good luck in 2017.


Here are the ropes from previous years.


A TV crew were following them around.


It is lucky to keep a bundle of the 'lost' straw.


A lucky escape!


The tradition is reminiscent of many of our New Year good luck traditions, such as the Hooden Horse in Kent.  The first photo set is from the 2007 Plough Tour in Speldhurst and the horse is with Hartley Morris Men.




From the Plough Tour 2009, two pubs near Chiddingstone Causeway.




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Mount Chokai this morning

January 7, 2017, 2:26 pm
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The view of Mount Chokai is excellent this morning.


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