Sashiko Journal Quilt

This piece of sashiko is going to be the "Japan" part of my 2010 holiday set of journal quilts.  I've done "Singapore" and "North Island, New Zealand" which you can see in progress by clicking on those two places.  The project will also include the miniature "Storm at Sea" quilt that I started at the Timaru Quilters' Gathering.
I stitched this using Susan Fletcher's method of applying the design with vilene on the back of the work, as we did with her "Dragonfly Over Diamond Waves" tutorial.

The journal quilt is very much in the style of Sylvia Pippen, with the flowers appliqued onto the panel after fussy-cutting them from some Japanese fabric.

I wanted to use flowers to represent the wonderful plants and colour we enjoyed in Tokyo (even though we missed the cherry blossom).  Here is a picture of the azaleas in bloom at the Nezu shrine.

Thank You To Everybody Who Visited Me Here

Note from Lis added 21 May:  Please note that my SMS Giveaway (please scroll down or click here  to have a look) is now closed and I will be announcing the winner this morning, Friday 21 May. 

Thank you to everyone who visited here, left lovely comments and signed up as followers.  I have been absolutely blown away with the number of comments I have received, it makes me feel really good inside.  I hope I managed to email you all individually to say thank you but I have been amazed at how many visitors I've had and might have missed somebody out or not been able to find an email for you (although I tried even if you were a 'no-reply blogger').  It has been wonderful to read all your ideas about Japan and to read your compliments about my blog, thank you.
I hope you enjoy the things I'll be adding in the future, including more information about my recent visit to Tokyo, the projects I have for the fabric I bought there and something about the traditions and culture of the wonderful country of Japan.  Of course I'll also be announcing the winner of my giveaway on 21st May, here on this blog.

Sewmamasew's giveaway day was a lot of fun and if, like me, you've spent a lot of time rushing around the web signing up for all the gorgeous giveaways I hope you'll come back and browse through Sashiko Started It at leisure.

You may be interested to know that I have another blog where I share my non-Japanese quilty work and my musings on life in Lincolnshire, it's Online Quilting.  The next big event happening there is the Blogger's Quilt Festival which starts on Friday (which is also Friday Night Sew-In so it'll be a fun and quilty day).  A lot of the blogs I've visited during Giveaway Day were fairly new ones so I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage those new bloggers to carry on blogging, it is amazing where it can lead.