Sashiko Blooms

 Upon hearing the next theme was Sashiko, I considered using one of my Sashiko stitcheries, but of course I stashed it somewhere where I'd remember it, and I'm still wondering where that is. So, I stitched up a little piece, but then thought it wasn't enough, so that is still on my design wall. In the end, I decided to create some flowers using raw edge applique and Sashiko stitches. 

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I have a book on Sashiko that had examples of stitches, so I tried to use some of those. In the end, it really looks like I just did big stitching, but I really did use examples from the book. 

In the petals, I used long stitches and "pluses". In the brown center, I attempted some diagonal stitches. 

The stems are just long stitches in green threads, and the leaves got a little more creative. You might also notice the quilting, done by machine, but it is a nod to another Sashiko design. 

I added the blue/white border because I thought it worked well. The backing is a cheerful blue floral I had in my stash. 

I'm not really sure I met this challenge, but I enjoyed stitching wiht the 12 wt threads and finishing this little quilt. It measures approx 14" x 21". 

Wendy

Sashiko Reveal: Mermie's Cabin

Good morning, fellow Endeavourers. Before I show you my finished quilt, let me tell you first about Plan A. When this prompt was announced, we’d just returned from our trip to Alaska. While we were in Alaska, we were fortunate to be among the 30% of visitors who actually get to see Denali. This was a picture I took when we pulled off the road.

I spent some time perusing Pinterest, looking for inspiration. Some of the images I saw on Pinterest made me wonder if I could recreate my image of Denali using the sashiko technique. So I printed my image onto a sheet of Sticky Fabri-Solvy and went to work on it. I’d planned to stitch parallel running stitches in the various colors from the image.

After stitching on it for a few days, I started having doubts about whether this was going to work. Without some kind of outlining, I didn’t see how it would ever look like anything other than a bunch of random stitches. I hadn’t decided to give it up yet, but I was thinking about what else I might do. 

Randomly one evening, I was in our spare bedroom where this watercolor painting hangs on the wall.

It was painted by my husband's grandmother. Her name was Olive Riddle. We called her "Mermie." In the post I wrote on my personal blog, I went into some detail here about Mermie. If you're interested in the more detailed version of this reveal, you can read my blog post right here.

So, as I looked at the watercolor on the wall, I could envision it in stitching. I had an idea to outline the main subjects in stem stitch, and then fill in the interiors with different sashiko patterns. I took a picture of her painting, and then printed it as a photograph. 

In preparation for this project, I'd already purchased some sashiko templates. I used them for inspiration and then as guides to help me trace the stitching patterns I wanted to use.

Then I traced the design onto fabric.

And then I just stitched and stitched and stitched until it was finished. I only had a loose plan about how to stitch various sections, and made some decisions as I went along.

When it was finished, I trimmed it very close to the stitching, and then added borders. The pattern in the gray batik seemed just right for this piece dedicated to sashiko.

And then I quilted it on my domestic sewing machine by stitching very, very close to the stem stitching. The quilting is mainly functional, but it also gave some texture to the piece.

When the quilting was finished it looked like this from the back.

All that was left to do was to add the binding. Here is my finished quilt. It measures 15 x 17.5 inches.

Here's how it looks from the back.

Here’s a closer look at the stitching.

And now, it is hanging with the watercolor cabin that Mermie painted.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you like my quilt.

Sashiko Colour

 

After ages of not knowing what to make for this challenge, I ended up making six 9 1/2" square quilts inspired by sashiko, colour and typography.

It was something of a scrap project, using up the fused silk pieces I had left over from my Circles and Squares quilt.

The first little quilt I made was probably the most sashiko/boro inspired but I was having fun so I just carried on without worrying about keeping too closely to the theme.

I've posted more about this project over over at Rainbow Hare.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone has made this time :)

I first began working with sashiko almost a year ago and fell in love with it. The first things I made were three 5 inch squares that I made into a "rice bag". These bags were used to make offerings at temples. The blocks were made using a template to draw the design.

 

After the bag, I found several pre-printed blocks on Etsy. I made this one with a variegated thread. And then made a pillow.

After the Textile guild members saw these, they asked me to do a class for them. All involved liked it although I haven't seen anyone's finished projects.

I have sense then gotten two more pre-printed pieces and made a quilt. It was difficult to find fabric to match the fabric of the pre-printed pieces but I finally did.

A friend told me about a website that sold Block of the month sashiko quilting kits: Silvia Pippin. I purchased their 2023 Sashiko Scenes and am working on the first month block. I will probably put that on my blog when I am finished with it. 

Super Subtle Sashiko

 I knew this project would require a lot of time, so I started early and worked on it a little bit for weeks!  

I used a piece of Japanese silk for a base, and stitched along the lines of the pattern with lots of different threads, even a thin gold thread from Japan. But all that work really doesn't show.

Sashiko stitching embellishes a piece of Japanese resist-dyed silk.

Close-up of the stitching.

And from the beginning, I planned for this to be just one block in a sampler quilt I am working on, so it is not quilted and bound.

The sashiko-enhanced fabric will be one block of a sampler quilt.

I enjoyed the hours of hand stitching but I don't think I achieved any great effects.  You can read more about the research I did on this technique, and how I made it, and my home blog textileranger.com.