Busy busy! Local local! No airplanes for me this month. Here’s where you can find Kimonomomo this March: March 1 – Bay Area Sashiko Workshop in San Jose/Campbell. Details on Meetup.com or contact Carol if you need information/directions. The address is never posted online so you do need to contact me or Leilani if you’ll…
Category: quilting
Houston International Quilt Market #1!
Ok, a few pics from my first two days. More to come. The big red and white display is in celebration of the Festival’s 40 year Ruby Jubilee, and it is amazing. The other photos are from my shopping spree at Birch Fabrics, and the most excellent Tyson who helped me out. Dee Dee at…
Sashiko sewing machine – what’s your impression?
I’m a big fan of hand stitching, but I do own 7 or 8 sewing machines, most of them 50-100 years old and not capable of more than a straight stitch. I do frequently meet people who are happy with their sashiko machines but I’ve never used a sashiko machine myself. I can tell you…
New Kona Bay fabrics in the Kimonomomo Etsy shop
Nobu Fujiyama. NOBU FUJIYAMA. sigh. So pretty. The entire Serene collection is just gorgeous. And yes, I have all of these in stock right now, even though they don’t all show in the Etsy shop yet. Patience!
New in the Kimonomomo shop: a rainbow of vintage yukata bolts
Summertime is yukata season, and in the Kimonomomo studio that means getting the dozens of yukata bolts I’ve had hiding on the shelf (some for years) out into the sunshine where I can photograph them in the best light. Here are a few of my favorites, old and new. Click on the images to view…
Upcoming show: Piecemakers Guild Quilt Show, Newark, CA
Wow! Busy weekend ahead. I haven’t even unpacked from my last show in San Luis Obispo, CA and it’s already time for my next show. Last weekend (first weekend of every month) we had the monthly meeting of the South Bay Sashiko Guild in San Jose/Campbell, CA, and now I’m setting up for the Piecemakers…
Product Review: KARISMA Air Fade Pen and Fujix Soie et Silk Thread
It’s a product review two-for-one! I’ve been experimenting with the KARISMA Air Fade Ink pens on silk lately and I’m quite pleased with the results. I have heard that some brands of air fade ink pens will come back if the fabric is laundered, so I decided to use them on fabrics I wasn’t planning to…
Tulip Sewing Needles a’plenty
Tulip, a sewing needle manufacturer in Hiroshima, Japan, recently celebrated its 65th anniversary. Founded in 1948 to make fishing needles, the company switched to more crafty consumers in the 1950s when they began exporting crochet hooks and knitting needles. Now well-known for their quilting needles and beading tools, Tulip has refined their product for a…
Mother’s Day Coupon Code!
There are so many new fabrics in the shop to play with, and I’m a mother, so… coupons codes for you! Use the code MOTHERSDAY14 at checkout for 15% off your purchase at my Kimonomomo Etsy shop from now until midnight on Mother’s Day, which is May 11, 2014 in the USA. Share the code,…
Fujix Persimmon dyed threads Kakishibu – 柿渋
I’m a huge fan of natural indigo, but sometimes a different color can be refreshing. Kakishibu (柿渋) is a tannin made from shredded and fermented green persimmons. If you’ve ever tasted an unripe persimmon then you are familiar with the astringency it can have! Aside from giving you a puckery mouth, this astringency has some…
Sashiko boro quilt
If you’ve seen me at a show or come to the Kimonomomo studio in the last few months, you’ve probably seen the quilt I’ve been working on. Pieced from Alexander Henry, Moda, Olympus, and Kona Bay prints, plus a few 19th century katazome cottons, it’s coming together nicely. Piecing took two days using a 1959 Singer…
Kogin – yet another diversion to keep my hands happy
You know, because I obviously have WAY too much free time. Koginzashi こぎん刺し (or according to various online translations, “concentrated silver stab”) is a regional stitch technique that evolved out of its plain but fascinating older sister, sashiko刺し子. By carefully counting the warp and weft threads of a piece of cloth, a pattern could be devised…
A love for both the common fiber and the extraordinary textile @KimonoMomo 