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…
Category: sashiko
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…
Kimonomomo Shop Updates for March 2014
February blew through the studio, bringing with it two shows (AQS Phoenix AZ & San Mateo, CA), many orders, and several new projects. Between keeping up with the shop and the garden–a lack of rain here meant daily watering so our winter vegetables wouldn’t die–I fell behind on my writing. To catch up, here is…
Ringing in the New Year with a pile of old indigo
I spent New Years Eve picking apart two vintage cotton kasuri kimono, stitch by stitch. The one on the right with the cypress fence design (numazugaki 沼津垣) was so carefully sewn that it was a terror to disassemble. However, I wasn’t the first one to have taken this kimono apart, as evidenced by how it had…
Product Review: KARISMA Washable Fabric Pencil
Among the goodies I picked up at the Houston International Quilt Market this year was a selection of KARISMA pencils. I’ve been a fan of mechanical pencils since the mid-1980s when my friend and artist Kristine Schramer introduced me to them. The ease with which I could draw a fine line and erase any mistakes…
Hida Sashiko Thread
I’ve been selling sashiko thread in my shop since 2008, and it’s always been Olympus thread, nothing else. I knew of other brands, but Olympus has been a dependable brand for me, and I’ve been very happy to have it in stock and use it in my classes and projects. Earlier this year discovered Hida…
Unpacking the pretties and piecing them together
I’ve been back from Houston for a week, worked 2.5 days at another show, and now I’m settling into the happy work of sorting fabrics in the studio. My show stock arrived a few days ago and is still being unpacked. Thomas and I discussed the new shelving units he will build for me, and…
Houston International Quilt Market and Festival 2013
I survived! After finding out at the very last minute that I had been accepted for Festival, I packed up the majority of my stock and shipped it out to Houston in mid-October. Then I did the East Bay Mini Maker Faire at the Park Day School in Oakland, California, and packed up what was…
Nouveau Boro
I’ve brought samples of my sashiko work to various quilt guilds and fabric shops, offering to teach a class or do a talk on the vintage pieces in my collection. So far the responses have varied from the rare “We’d love to have you, how much do you charge?” to the far more common “We…
Shop news and updates for April, 2013
I have no idea what happened to March. It was here, then it was gone. April seems a little more grounded, rooted, and thriving. The shop is buzzing with sales (use the code SPRING at checkout for 15% off until May 1, 2013) and sashiko items have been flying out the door. Going through my…
Book Review: Sashiko by Agnès Delage-Calvet
Sashiko : japanisch sticken by Agnès Delage-Calvet with photographs by Frédéric Lucano 2007, Haupt Publishing. ISBN 978-3-258-07134-3 Language: German I stroll through Amazon from time to time seeking out new sashiko books to add to my library. It doesn’t matter what language they are in, all are welcome. This slim volume starts off with a…
A love for both the common fiber and the extraordinary textile @KimonoMomo 