16 January 2026

Japanese Sampler: 'Cumulus Clouds'

Amazing Op Shop (Charity Shop) find! Cottons still in its package, a birds nest mess of similar cotton and a 1/4 completed sampler ‘Cumulus Clouds’. I finished the sampler as best I could rather than the tedious process of unpicking. I think I’ll use make a cushion cover from it and re-gift it (donate it ) to the charity shop I bought ut from! The ultimate up cycling for a good cause!







Tea Tray Mat: Japanese Embroidery Sashiko Style: Snow Crystal Pattern

 'Snow Crystal' pattern on very fine 100% Lightweight cotton







11 January 2026

Crocheted Scarves for the Homeless

I confess that I am not good at crocheting...only simple stitches and patterns! But I'm adding to my pile of scarves that will go to the homeless next winter! It's hard to think of a bad winter in Australia particularly now we are having some +40c days and bushfires again. But last winter we had some very cold nights & mornings...so these may help somebody keep a little bit warm!






17 November 2025

Panel for a Japanese Style Bed Cover Using Boro & Sashiko sewing techniques

This is the 2nd panel in an eight panel Boro style bed cover with Sashiko highlights. The bed cover is for a king size bed. Each Panel Size: 50cm x 150cm (20 in x 1.6 yards) Panel backing material: Medium weight linen. Materials Used: Scraps from my scrap box, Japanese materials from a lovely Japanese- Aussie lady who has a stall at most of the local markets around the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, from my travels overseas, vintage kimono fabric pieces from Japanese retail outlets in Australia and Spotlight Australia for the linen and plain cotton pieces. Thread: All Japanese brands: Olympus & Daruma. Sampler Centrepiece: ‘Temari’.




17 October 2025

Modern Hand Sewing: Wall Hanging Inspired by Klee

Heavily inspired by the Expressionist artist Paul Klee’s modern masterpiece ‘In the Desert’ and the Japanese sewing art of Sashiko and Boro, I’ve used scraps of fabric from my off-cuts box and mixture of Japanese threads and balls of colourful cotton I recently found in a local charity shop for this art piece. It can either be a wall hanging or table centre piece. I will sew in a discrete Velcro rod pocket at the back so it can be hung and taken off when used as a table centrepiece. Klee was inspired by his travels in Egypt and if you can imagine his view from on high down to segmented farmland made up of fields of produce in the sun.




09 October 2025

Japanese Quilt: 1st Panel

First of 8 panels of 50cm x 150cm each of a Japanese Boro and Sashiko inspired quilt cover. I used Japanese cottons and scrap materials from my off-cuts stash. Upcycling is something I love to do! It’s so satisfying to give a ‘home’ to otherwise useless bits and pieces.












16 September 2025

Table Runner

 

Table runner: Taking inspiration from the blues and greens of the  Mid Century Modern Art movement (1955 - 1970) and my love and collection of the famous West German and Bitosi ceramics with their ridged textures and also my love for the Japanese simplicity of Sashiko embroidery and  Japanese variegated cottons on heavyweight linen.



 


Japanese Sashiko: Dedicated to and in Homage and Thanks to Yayoi Kusama

Sampler: Krosu Tsunagi sewn in every bright colour Sashiko thread I had to hand including variegated bracelet making cotton. This joyous rom...