Hey y'all!  Can I just say, I've had a lovely day!  I feel so good because Curves Class has officially started and look...I survived!  I mean, here I am making my post for tomorrow, tonight.  Yay!  And earlier I was piecing my flying geese into rows.  (Now that's a project that majorly stalled due to all this other action.)  Liam's going to have curtains again someday!  What a good mom I am (wink, wink).



Ok, so I have another bitty project to share with you today.  It's another bunch of handwork I did for Stitch Magazine's Spring 2012 issue, but this time.... with Sashiko embroidery!  Ok, that's not much of a surprise given the title of this post, but are you impressed?  Are ya?  Are ya?



Not that Sashiko's hard.  It's not.  It's totally fun!  You can learn all about how to do it online at Studio Aika.  I know that lots of us are interested in Sashiko, but maybe you weren't too keen on taking on a big new project in a style you hadn't tried before.  And then there's the fact that traditional Sashiko uses special needles and thread.





Well, I didn't!  I used pearl cotton from Anna Maria Horner's lovely boxed set and my trusty Chenille 24 needles (LOVE those).  I'm not saying these materials are better than traditional materials for Sashiko, I'm just saying you might be able to use something on hand!

 

Anyhoo, I used Saral Transfer Paper to transfer traditional Sashiko designs onto Essex Linen. The Essex Linen from Robert Kaufman is a cotton/linen blend with some linen-y texture but none of the shifty-naughtiness.  Although you often see it used in neutrals, Essex actually comes in lots of pretty colors.  I worked with Sand, Putty, Light Blue and Medium Aqua.   These colors and this one coin purse feel so beautifully wintery to me right now.  I could never actually have one of the white houses with white furniture and light carpets and a luxurious calm, soothing vibe (for SO many reasons), but right at this moment I think I would enjoy making a quilt that feels like that.  A very wintery quilt indeed.

Well there I am rambling!  I'm going to jump off there and snag a brownie before watching some Finder with my husband.   I know I've been ridiculously chipper tonight.  Thanks for taking it like a good friend.  And, hey, I don't even hear you laughing!  Isn't blogland a perfectly delightful place!

P.S.  Uncle Sam wants me to tell you that sometimes my links for products on Amazon (like the needles and transfer paper) are linked to me so that if you buy something I get a little Amazon store credit.  I didn't used to do this, but I started to recently because I was linking to Amazon anyways (hello, we all shop there) and I figured you wouldn't mind if Amazon has to cut me some fabric or free books now and then.  Just FYI to keep things legit around here. Tally ho!