My brother's sashiko throw finished, and a little London getaway

 

Spring has started springing in sunny North Carolina.  It is so beautiful here. 

I finished the next sashiko sofa throw, this one for my brother and sister in law.  This time, I sandwiched the layers with thin batting ("cream rose").  

Front:

Back: 

Again I used a lot of vintage pieces mixed with new indigo, and some pieces of Liberty tana lawn.  After everything was sashiko-ed (quilted, really) I appliquéd some patches on to the front, for balance. 

A good way to use a small piece of vintage Katazome: 

Meanwhile David was on a long business trip to several cities and I met up with him in London for a few days.  It was such a nice getaway.  

So fun seeing friends Nate and Savannah and meeting their kiddos for the first time in Hyde Park.  

At Liberty, charm everywhere - 

These celebrity needlepoint kits were a hoot, tempting: 

Crochet flowers - 

Sometimes I want to chuck all my quilting stuff and do embroidery - 

My travel back and forth was happily uneventful.  David returned home a week later after more business travel and we both promptly got Covid which kept each of us laid low for a solid week.   Coming out of the fog now! 

I keep taking unintentional breaks from blog reading and certainly blog posting!  But not ready to throw in the towel just yet! 

Hoping you my quilting pals across the miles are doing well in this topsy turvy world.  

xo

Cynthia 

Noelle's sashiko sofa throw finished ... and puppy reality check ... and homemade bread

It's a cloudy cozy Saturday here in North Carolina.  I have a crock pot dinner going, and bread dough rising, and an afternoon free for quilting. 

First things first though, after some "getting real" thinking, I've decided to delay (possibly forever?) getting a puppy - for all the usual reasons!  It was fun and thought provoking to read comments on this topic, on my last blog post - thank you!  When I really tried on the thought of just saying no to the puppy idea, I felt both disappointed and relieved, mostly relieved, even very relieved.  Alas!  and Whew! 

Anyhoooo in my pet-less townhouse I finished up the sashiko on Noelle's throw.  I'm real pleased with it and will bring it for show-and-tell tomorrow at guild meeting.  

This is the third of these sofa throws I've made so far, using Susan Briscoe's excellent guidance in The Book of Boro.  

Here's the top, photographed in the shade to try to capture the indigo hue: 

 

And the back: 

I add a few patches once the sashiko is finished - including David's family Kamon (crest):  

I love adding in some special pieces of Liberty tana lawn with the recipient in mind: 

Below, once of my all-time favorite pieces of vintage Katazome: 

Knife edge "hem" - 

In other news last week David taught a sushi making class for a group of adults (with and without intellectual disabilities) my niece Alyssa works with in her work with L'Arche.   My sister in law and I helped him.  A lot of work and a lot of fun.   

I just took my bread out of the oven!  It's a sourdough sandwich bread, recipe from King Arthur Flour.  I love that it combines a sourdough levain that you mix the night before, with a little active dry yeast, for an easy recipe, consistently delicious results.  I always add some whole wheat, wheat germ, and a bit of vital wheat gluten,  in place of some of the white flour.  Using a scale has forever changed the way I bake! 

I let it cool like this, elevated, to prevent soggy bottoms.  

Hope ya'll are having a good weekend in your own neck of the woods... 

x

Cynthia 

Piecing old indigo

I've been going gangbusters piecing some indigo throws, two so far, using old pieces I collected in Japan, plus some newer indigo, and even some Liberty tana lawn. 

Meanwhile, a few simple pleasures, like the beautiful basil we are getting in our little pots outside our front door.  Simple salad with fruit, basil, burrata cheese, olive oil, s&p. 

Facetiming with twin toddlers is sort of hilarious: 
 

My in-laws are visiting for a few days.  David made tempura, his Mom's favorite Japanese dish - here the vege is all ready to go - 

And I made my father-in-law's favorite - cherry pie - for dessert.  

For my indigo throws, my goal is to make three more - one for us, and for each daughter.  I made one for Tommy in 2021:

I've already basted and hemmed Noelle's indigo throw (see Susan Briscoe's excellent instructions in The Book of Boro.).  

Now I'm stitching it all over with simple sashiko stitches, some visible and some not.  I used a drinking glass to mark these circles: 

Yes - I really like leaving knots exposed. 

I love this asanoha pattern on this indigo, and I'm just tracing some of lines with off-white sashiko thread: 

David enjoys tending our tiny garden space in the front.  He's doing some niwaki or "cloud pruning" with the existing holly bush:  

Springtime here in North Carolina is just so beautiful.  The clematis really enjoys this sunny spot: 

With the heaviness of world events right now, it feels sort of trivial and indulgent to blog about these little domestic things... but I do.  The sunshine and shadow, all together, in our lives and in the world.  

xo

Cynthia 

Boston and Maine... and Indigo Sofa Throw finish

During my month in the U.S. we went to Massachusetts for a few days and reconnected with several good old friends (I wish I'd taken some selfies with each of them!).  

I do love Boston and it was so great to be back home-home for a few days. 

Then Tommy arrived and we headed to New Hampshire to our storage unit.... he found a few things he wanted to take back to college, and I sifted through some old photos for fun. 

The Christmas my brother and I got new bicycles, 1975: 

We rented a little house in Ogunquit, Maine for a week.  It was so cozy and homey.  I loved the trees and it was walking distance to cute shops and restaurants as well as the little beach.   We watched the Olympics each night.  I did a tiny bit of handwork.  I brought so much, but just worked on ONE block, lol. 

Beautiful gardens to admire in the neighborhood - 

Kaela, Joe and Charlotte were with us all week - 

Playing with Grandad on the beach: 

Soaking up Charlotte time: 

Noelle and Keenan joined us from North Carolina for a few days: 

My three children - my heart: 

Sweet Noelle:

Kaela did some haircuts on the porch: 

 

Beach baby: 

In our happy place: 

We celebrated Tommy's birthday and I gave him the indigo sofa throw.  How I forgot to take photos, I don't know.  But later he sent me some: 

It measures about 45"x65" - I used a mix of new and vintage indigo.  No batting.  Soft thick indigo backing.  

Susan Briscoe gives excellent instructions in her book The Book of Boro.  Highly recommended. 

When the throw was "finished" I added little patches here and there - with needle turn appliqué - to create the balance I wanted. 

Without batting, it is very compact but substantive with the heavy backing.  

I added our family's Pawlonia kamon to the lower left hand corner.   

David flew back to Tokyo from Boston and I flew back to Texas for an extra week with Charlotte.  You know the rest of the story from my whiny previous post, lol.   I am now back home in Tokyo with ten more days of quarantine - but we are allowed to take walks close to home, so it doesn't feel too restrictive at all. 

xo

Cynthia