Big Blue Boro

Closeup view of one of Carol’s favorite antique Japanese indigo boro!

Quilting with Sashiko

My mom was a hand quilter, which makes it logical that after watching her enjoy it for so many years,  I’d come to appreciate handwork, too. The slow pace, the gentle and rhythmic stitching, and the fabulous texture of it all. There are some aspects of hand quilting I do not enjoy so much, especially…

Where can you find Kimonomomo in March?

Quick update (because I’m working on four other slow updates from my Japan trip and something needs to get posted, let’s be honest): Upcoming Sashiko Class: Sashiko Specifics – Learning the Stitches Part 1 with Kimonomomo – March 26, The ReCrafting Co, Alameda, CA Upcoming Quilt Shows: East Bay Heritage Quilt Guild – Voices in…

An Anniversary, an Open House, and a Sashiko Subscription

Wow. Ten years. When I started selling online in 2005 I had my own website and an eBay store. Both are gone now, I closed them after starting my Etsy shop. There have been a lot of changes to Etsy–they went corporate awhile back–but some changes have been helpful and we’ve seen my tiny business…

Textile Trading in Osaka

Tokyo has the biggest quilt show in Japan, but many of the fabrics in those quilts start out somewhere else. Home to the bulk of the Japanese cotton trade for the past 300 years, Osaka is where next year’s trends are designed and next season’s designs are sold. In 2016 my husband and I decided to…

Tokyo Great International Quilt Festival 2017 part 3

Some photos were taken in a hurry as I rushed from the booth to lunch, or back again. Closeups are all I have of these beautiful quilts. The geometry is complex and amazing. When people who don’t quilt think that quilters are old grannies who sit around making simple blankets, I want to show them…

Tokyo Great International Quilt Festival 2017 Part 2

I’m writing this while sitting in a Tokyo hotel, but I have so much more to tell you about this trip. Since leaving Tokyo Dome I took a train up to Takayama, another train down to Osaka, flew to Hirosaki in Aomori prefecture, then back to Tokyo again. Three weeks on the road and I’m almost ready…

Tokyo Great International Quilt Festival 2017

The Tokyo Great International Quilt Festival is big. So big they hold it in a baseball stadium. So big it goes on for DAYS AND DAYS, even longer than the Houston Quilt Festival, which seems like forever when I’m working that show. This time I only had to work two days, and I got to sit…

Quick Sashiko Tips and Quilt Show News for October, 2016

Summer has wrapped up and we are heading into autumn. For me this means a LOT of work, including sewing and getting ready for quilt shows. BIG quilt shows. I’ve been a vendor at the Houston International Quilt Festival in Texas for a few years now, but this year I finally made it off the…

2016 Winter Sashiko Challenge Winners!

I know, this was scheduled for last week, but between a quilt show and a family emergency things got away from me. It didn’t help that the first two entries were so good we had a difficult time deciding which would place first. The Spring Sashiko Challenge will be available April 1. Thomas and I have…

Kimonomomo Winter Sashiko Challenge 2016

It’s time for a challenge and I’m excited! Check out the video here: Magical prizes! Shopping credit at Kimonomomo ~~~ so you can have even more sashiko goodness. 1st place – $40 credit 2nd place – $20 credit 3rd place – $10 credit Here’s how you can be a part of it: Order your kit…