Sashiko block 2

It's very cold here today. Well when I say cold remember that this is the sub-tropics and everything here is designed for keeping cool. No carpet, no curtains (only a few blinds but they're upstairs) and a nice high house to catch the breeze through big expanses of glass. The ugg boots are on and the dog has his coat on.



I have been sewing a bit on my sashiko while sitting in front of the TV watching recorded shows. I've started a second block, and I'm a bit more organised when it comes to the edges. I've zigzagged, and I'm not going to sew too close to the edges so it will all go together a bit easier.



The flowers and leaves I've sewn over are already on the fabric as a faint outline, so I've just used them as a guide. I'm getting quite into this hand stitching - nice mindless stuff.

Sashiko

I've been doing a bit of sashiko, sort of 'rough' sashiko in bigger stitches. Inspiration has come from a few places as I've been looking at heaps of sites and blogs with old Japanese textiles lately. These pages however are the ones I go back to regularly.







I just started without thinking it through, but I think what I'll do is make a Quilt-as-you-go type quilt with the squares just sewn together and the back just roughly sewn down. I'm using fabric from the extensive Japanese stash which I accumulated while making my Japanese Quilt.

I'm amazed at how much I'm enjoying hand sewing these days. When I first started making quilts there was no way I'd sew by hand - too slow, too boring! Now I really enjoy it, who'd have thought? I'm off to the Mainland today so I'll stock up on some more sashiko thread if I can get any. I might have to buy online to get what I want.

There has been plenty of TV watching lately, and with Le Tour (de France) only a few weeks away there will be plenty of time for hand sewing.

Do You Believe It?

Laura's Christmas quilt is finally finished - better (6 months) late then never, right?  The weather is cooling down so at least she'll be able to put in on the bed straight away and get under it.



I used a different batting this time that's cotton but thicker than I usually use, so it will be nice and warm.  It also makes the quilting a bit more obvious.  It was a bit hard to get a decent photo as of course it clouded over and started to spit just as I put the quilt out on the deck.  I tried it over the railing but these quick pics were the best I could do.  It hasn't been washed yet and due to the hasty draping over the chair it looks a bit 'bubbly' between some of the random quilting lines, but it looks much better when lying flat.



She is addicted to pink so she can turn it over if she likes.  The 'handover' is tomorrow night.