Holiday Quilting Part III

On the way home from New Zealand in May I am stopping for a few days in Tokyo.  This is somewhere I have always wanted to visit and if you've been following my blog for a while you'll know I'm interested in Japanese techniques and fabrics.  I have actually started a different blog just for Japan and sashiko and you can find it at Sashiko Started It.

The final section of my journal quilt (if that's what I end up with) will be based on my time in Tokyo and I expect it to feature some stunning Japanese fabrics and also sashiko quilting.  I have done quite a lot of research on the internet and shortlisted a few places I definitely want to visit including Tomato which I understand is a massive fabric shop, and also the Japan Folk Crafts Museum.

I chose the location of our hotel, a traditional ryokan (inn), based on the proximity of places of interest such as Ueno Park, various gardens and shrines and the Tokyo National Museum but, totally unintentionally, honestly, it turns out that it is very close to Nippori - Fabric Town

and my thanks go to Suzy at Floating World for a wealth of useful information.

I'm hoping to be able to buy a lot of Japanese fabrics and sashiko supplies and perhaps even a kimono or some kimono fabric and will be leaving a lot of room in my suitcase.  I understand there is a service called Takkyubin in Japan and should I buy more fabric than I can carry in one shopping expedition it can be delivered to my hotel for me!

I have no expectations of a design for the Tokyo part of my quilt project.  I won't be visiting Mount Fuji (although it may be possible to spy it from the observation gallery on the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Building) so that iconic image is unlikely to be part of it.  I think I will be too late in the year to see the cherry blossom although Jenni Dobson (with whom I did a sashiko workshop) told me I might see irises in bloom in the Empress' Garden at the Meiji Shrine.  I will just go with an open mind and be inspired.