Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking part in a Japanese Kaleidoscope Quilt class with internationally renowned quilter/textile artist Jan Preston.  It was arranged by Leanne of Kimono House (there’s a terrific profile of Kimono House here as well).  The class ran from 10.00am to 3.00pm and at the end of the day I had finished this:

one lonely little quilt block (actually, not quite finished)!  This is a totally hand-sewn and hand-pieced quilt, which forced me to slow down significantly and enjoy the process.  I do have a few more under way:

We learned how to do sashiko embroidery, which I particularly enjoyed.  So effective and simple, but difficult to get perfect.  The sashiko stitching makes a beautiful secondary design of circles on a finished quilt piece.  I am a member of Kimono House’s fabric club, so have amassed a nice pile of squares of Japanese fabric which will be showcased beautifully in this quilt.  It is definitely going to be a long-term project for me – I figure about ten years?  There’s no hurry!

I’ve found a little tutorial on sashiko, and Sharon has stitched a number of beautiful pieces.  There is even a Flickr pool on sashiko!   Here is another example of the kaleidoscope quilt block, done in completely different colours to mine.  Another crafty interest to add to the ever-burgeoning list!