Calliope,

I think you'd get more responses to this question on the Quilting forum. I remember being interested enough in Sashiko to purchase a book on the technique years ago. I never did any projects with it, however and gave the book to the library eventually.

Depending on the overall complexity of the print pattern would dictate how complicated your sashiko would be. Try experimenting with different patterns and see how they look against the print.

Good luck and post pictures.

Dianne

I took a class in sashiko several years ago. I really enjoyed doing it! It is worked from the back of the fabric. You mark the design on the back and stitch with running stitches. It's embroidery, not quilting. Your design idea sounds really beautiful!

Donna

Dianne, thanks for my first chuckle of the morning! Thank you too Donna. I know it's embroidery, and usually worked with no batting, but I would like to translate it into my quilt. I'm just trying to figure out the logistics of how to do it and I figure somebody has done it before and might share with me how they did it.

Japan gets very cold in the winter, so the embroidery motifs were used to make quilted clothing and bedcoverings. When quilting, try over-sized running stitches worked in perle cotton.

Annie

I was laughing too when I read Diane's post. I actually clicked out to see what forum I was on LOL!!!!!
I borrowed a book on sashiko embroidery from the library and I tried it on a vest and I liked it. I think it would look beautiful on a quilt, to me it is much the same as whole cloth quilting with heavier thread. The thread I bought was expensive (too me).
Maybe Biwako will see this post, she lived in Japan and still has relatives there.
Rosa

I had never heard of this stitching so I just looked it up and was amazed! I have a small blanket - like a lap quilt size - done in this style. It belonged to my Great Aunt and is one of my cherished family items. I don't think she made it but always wondered if she had. She was a quilter so may have given this a try. I don't know it's history... nver thought to ask her when I was a child - but now I'm curious! Is there a non-Japanese style of stitchery that's similar or is Sashiko unique??? The one I have is a very simple pattern.
Kate

I have a book by Kimi Ota called Kashiko Quilting. It is basically about the quilting designs. This is not the embroidery. She describes it as "just running stitches that are abut 5 to 7 per inch--an equal number of even stitches." The book covers several designs and a stitching route to follow. I used a design like Kaku Seigaiha (Pointed Blue Ocean Waves) in my Chinese Garden--guess I should have called it Japanese Garden--although I'm not sure that is where I got it.

I did not use the proposed route, but quilted as I normally would. The designs are quite lovely, but common enough geometrics so that anyone playing with such design elements might come up with the same designs.

Here is the pattern called Kaku Seigaiha.

{{!gwi}}

A technique called "Big Stitch" has been around a few years and may look like sashiko in the size of the sitches, but doesn't use the traditional sashiko patterns of stitching. Maybe that it what your aunt did, Kate?
Teresa

Thanks Teresa! I'll try to get a photo tonight and post it. Maybe you all can help ID the style.

Calliope,
I have a book on sashiko quilting which I would love to pass on. I took several of my favorite patterns to adapt for continuous line long-arm machine quilting, but I've pretty much done all I wish to do with it. The book is for both hand-quilting and machine quilting.

Email me through Gardenweb, and I'd be happy to re-home the book.

Mary

I did notice this thread, Rosa, but I didn't know enough to help with an answer.

I once saw a TV program in Japan on which the sashiko technique was demonstrated, and it was simply running stitches in a rather coarse white thread taken on an indigo background. It happened not to be quilted. What most impressed me was how the stitches had to be done in such a way that, for instance, where several lines came together, the stitches had to fall so they radiated out exactly the same distance from the meeting point. I was intrigued, but never got around to doing any sashiko.

Not really to the point, but by a sort of free association process, this reminded me of the quilted cleaning rags my mother-in-law used to make out of old towels and other suitable throw-away materials. She would fold them to get an oblong of about 8" x 10" and then hand-quilt them with coarse stitches in various simple patterns. Nothing curved or fancy. The Japanese use these "zoukin" as cleaning rags or for wiping tables off, and so on, and when we moved to the States, she gave us a pile of them. I can hardly bear to use them and spoil them, and our mother is now 94 and in a nursing home in Tokyo. A true thrifty Japanese lady of the old school.

I used to make zoukin, but on the sewing machine!

Once I saw a funny Japanese cartoon featuring a "difficult" mother-in-law. The daughter-in-law had spent a lot of time and effort making zoukins and was hoping to be praised, but the mother-in-law was telling her they were no good because, in THEIR family, the quilting had to be done in another pattern.

Here's a quilt I created, "Cloudy with a Chance of Sashiko". You can see more photos about it on my blog. I am a professional quilter, and collector/restorer of vintage and antique sewing machines. Cloudy with a Chance of Sashiko Quilt by Linda Durrant

Cloudy with a Chance of Sashiko, queen size quilt by Linda Durrant

Love the look! A friend of mine in our guild is doing this now and it looks great. I hope to give this a try someday...another on the to do list.

I'm just getting around to reading a lot of old emails, and forgot that I had already commented on sashiko years ago. (How time flies!) But this is a lovely new pic. I am especially glad you showed us all the beautiful colors of thread you used, and the black background shows them off.. What brand is it? I assume it's crocheting weight, but the threads look a bit silky, which would add to their appeal. The repetition of the same checkered squares on all the corners is a nice unifying touch, too.

Biwa45, aka biwako of abi (At some point Garden Web changed and I had to re-register or something.)

Hi, Sharon! We were together here a long time ago, weren't we? Glad to know you are still around.