Xmas 2005: Ladies who blog For the ladies who blog, I have made them both two Sashiko style cushions (and they have been opened so I am safe to post). They are not strictly Sashiko - for Betty Sue (top row), I have got geometric rather than tesselations, which are more traditional. But I was going for something that looked OK, rather than necessarily traditional. And in doing the flowers (bottom right) for DJ Bebe I did not leave a pretty little empty hole in the middle as per tradition. Overall, I liked the effect - I am big on contrast as you see the overall effect rather than the multitude of small sins in the execution.

Some notes on Sashiko:

• Hand quilting trashes your fingers. I couldn't work out how to do it with my thimble on, so I managed to gouge an enormous hole in my right hand middle finger
• You really need a decent white pencil or chalk to make this work. I tried marking the designs on the back (which was muslin, so easy to see) but at least in my case, due to the multiple layers, I lost alignment between the back and front, so you really need to mark on the front
• Masking tape is awesome for the straight lines (removing the need for chalk)
• Overall, it's quick and easy, compared with other types of embroidery, but it's not a 2hr job either. I would budget 4 or 5 hours for a 40cm stitched area.

  ¶ 5:37 PM