Kawandi, & onsen getaway

 

In April  I took Sujata Shah's Zoom class, Stories in Stitches: Siddi Quilt  (you might be familiar with Sujata's quilt book Cultural Fusion - it is terrific).  The class was about Kawandi, which are quilts made by women of the African diaspora (Siddi community) in India.  Absolutely inspiring.  I loved Sujata's philosophy of quilting and life.  And she really taught us about the Siddi women with such respect and admiration.  

If you are on Instagram, you might like to check out: 

 @therootconnection (Sujata's IG page) 

@africanquiltsofindia  and @indigoartsalliance for important cultural background

#kawandi 

Previous to the workshop I attended a virtual lecture about these amazing quilters sponsored by the Indigo Arts Alliance.   Highly recommend checking out and supporting this organization! 

For mine, I used what I had on hand already - fine (thin) sashiko thread, and a long sashiko needle suitable for the long rows of stitching.  Scraps.  Color!!  I've really been craving more color and freedom in my quilting.  

I took my kawandi project on our little weekend getaway - for some stitching on the train - and will always remember that I finished it while riding the Shinkansen! 

Sidebar - here was our lunch.  "Ekiben" are bento meals you purchase at train stations, to eat on the train: 

Honestly, I am SO HOOKED.  This style of quilting is so meditative and satisfying.  The method is so efficient, creative, loose, economical.  The result is lots of color and memories captured in a very soft supple little quilt. 

I used scraps and included a few gems - fabric that had been my Mom's and Grandma's, lots of Japanese fabrics, fabric from Charlotte's baby quilt, etc.  Japanese double-gauze as the backing.  

The little quilt measures about 20"x20" and I am going to give it to Charlotte, as a "lovey" from me, her Grandma;).  Charlotte turns one in June!  If I mailed it to her now, it would take 3+ months to arrive (can you even believe that?!) so I will bring it with me when we (hopefully) visit in July.  

A little more about our weekend trip - from the train we caught nice glimpses of the Sea of Japan - 

We stayed overnight at an older onsen north of Niigata - Atsumi Onsen - it had a nice private outdoor onsen we could reserve for an hour, which was so very relaxing.  

Lovely grounds at the onsen: 

The staff encouraged us to take a stroll in our borrowed yukata and geta.  Women can pick out a special yukata to wear.  Mine was size LL, the biggest size, and just barely big enough (sigh).  The little village was so empty - it was almost eerie.  We found an outdoor foot onsen - fun.  

We stayed in our yukatas for dinner in the dining room (with distancing measures in place).  Dinner was  kaiseki - a special, preset multi-course meal with a wide range of traditional, local, seasonal foods.  Here was the mysterious first course - I definitely ignored the snail).  We ordered Cokes and asked for water - it helps, lol. 

Rice is served at the end of the meal, before dessert (one poached sliver of apple, two strawberries, and a sliver of fudge).  

One of my favorite courses was this 4-bite piece of salmon with miso, with one giant poached cherry, so delicious.  

While you are at dinner, the staff puts out your futons.  They are so so comfortable to sleep on - really a pleasure.  Unfortunately the room had a fairly strong smoky odor (not uncommon) and I was glad we only stayed one night. 

The next morning, another lovely but somewhat challenging meal for breakfast.  Tiny portions of.... pickles (five types); some type of fish eggs (which I ignored) ; tofu; salmon, white fish, and a bite of omelette; three bites of bacon with onion and mushrooms that cooked over the fire at the table; miso soup, cabbage salad, rice, orange slice.  Apple juice! 

Shortly after we started home, on the train, everyone's phone earthquake alarms sounded all at once.  Very startling, super loud.  Seconds later, the train came to a stop and we could feel the shaking for what seemed like a long time.  No one made a peep the whole time.  David and I whispered a little bit.  This is where we were when it happened, truly out in the middle of nowhere: 

I'm glad it wasn't too severe an earthquake.  After about 5 minutes, we were on our way again.  Such is life in Japan! 

Thank you for hanging in there with this long post! 

xo gratefully 

Cynthia