Tokyo 2018

I had been meaning to blog about my Tokyo trip straight after the Kyoto post, but I have been too busy since we returned from visiting our new home in Canberra at Easter. So here it is at long last: Tokyo post! 

We travelled from Kyoto to Tokyo on the Shinkansen bullet train. The train ride was enjoyable. Our son and his family were with us. We were well prepared for our train trip. The grand-kids got books and toys to keep themselves occupied. I had a bag of sewing and some snacks for all of us.

In Tokyo, I planned to visit The Tokyo International Quilt Festival. It is held in the last week of January each year. I also wanted to take DDIL to Amuse Museum to see the BORO exhibition that I had visited 5 years earlier. Our son wanted to take the children to Tokyo Disney, but he was keeping it quiet until the end to surprise them. 

An extra bonus for me was to visit the Saori studio and spent a lovely day weaving using the Saori loom. You can't go to Tokyo without visiting Nippori Fabric Town. I also wanted to babysit the grand-kids so our son and DDIL could go out and see Tokyo's nightlife. 

We were expecting an early snow in Tokyo and we weren't disappointed. The day after we arrived we all went to Yoyogi Park to let the children and adults play in the thick snow. We had a super fun time.

BORO bag DGD made with vintage fabric we
bought at the Kyoto's flea market. 

Uniqlo Ginza, window display
goes up as tall as the eyes can see!

Park benches in the snow

We made snowmen

A peek at cherry blossoms in Tokyo

Tokyo manhole cover, my favourite so far

Tokyo Quilt International Festival day out. I took DDIL and DGD with me to the festival with me. I bought our tickets online. When we got out of the train station at Tokyo Dome and saw a long queue of people waiting to get into the festival I thought, OMG! We would never get in there today! To our surprise, the queue moved so fast and we were able to enter in less than 15 minutes. While we were standing in the queue DGD attracted a lot of attention from the Japanese quilters (they must be quilters!) with the boro bag she carried with her. She proudly told them she made it herself. "Kawaii", they were all saying to her. 

Korakuen Amusement Park at Tokyo Dome

View Tokyo Dome at you enter

Colourful Circles quilt and the maker

One of many beautiful quilts at the show

The happy lady at one of the stands

Both jacket and bag inspired me to
make them when I get home

The show's cover quilt

Blue and white quilts are my all-time favourites

Framed boro quilt

Special moment witnessing a reveal
her woven piece. 

Another special visit was to the Amuse Museum (boro museum). I was there on my last visit to Tokyo. I really wanted to take DIL to see these boro cloths and articles. I was glad that I got a chance to see them the second time around. The exhibition was a real treasure to share for both the Japanese and visitors.

Indigo items for sale in the museum shop

Boro quilt with red colour inspiration

Boro jacket

This boro piece was well preserved and displayed.

You can appreciate a hall full of boro treasures

The back view of a boro cloth

Some well-loved toeshoes

I love going back to Japan, any part of Japan really. I thought this would be the last trip I would make to Japan, but after I returned I thought I will have to go back again. Japan has everything that I love and it's close enough to Australia to get to. Let's see when is my next trip there. 

After we left Tokyo we spent another 5 days in Hiroshima. Hiroshima was on Mr Notjustnat's list of places to visit so we included it in our trip this time.

Until next time
Nat

Family Visit and some Dyeing Time

Our son and his family came to stay for a week and they just left this morning. The G-kids have to start back at school and their parents need to go back to workback to work. Unfortunately it was far too short. 

We had many sessions together at the Treehouse Studio. We stitched and created lots of small things. We also had a DS's birthday here. Mr Notjustnat and I arranged to take DGD for her first musical, The Lion King. She was thrilled and took it all in for a 6 and a half year old. We enjoyed it too!

My daughter-in-law Bron and I stole some time together and did some dyeing. The weather was as horrible as it could be this past week, but it didn't stop us putting on a couple of dye bundles! We also went out gathering some new leaves together too. In doing that we found some beautiful Australian native fruit Finger limes, and I made marmalade from them. A very busy, but productive week I would say!

Mr Bear enjoyed a visit to the Treehouse Studio

DS's Birthday Cake, raspberry cheesecake, yummy! 

One of the scenes from The Lion King, awesome show! 

DGD's framed eco-dye artwork. Never too
young to dye!

Various Eucalyptus leaves. Blue tint from red cabbage.

Intense green and red dyed on silk.

Eucalyptus leaves on wool.

Seriously red! Eucalyptus Nicholii on silk scarf.

With a little help from purple carrot.

Australian native fruit. Finger lime

Ruby red marmalade made with Finger Lime fruit

Below is a poster from one of my students Glenise who took my eco-dye workshop recently. She asked if I could spread the word for a good cause. Glenise is organizing a fun event to raise funds for Gembrook's CFA (Country Fire Authority). If you can, please support our CFA. They are doing a great job for our country communities.  

She has kindly offered me a table to sell or promote my dyeing products and workshop. I turned it down this time because it was too short notice and with our trip only around the corner. I can't fit another thing in!

Have you noticed I've changed my blog banner? What do you think? The weather continues to be horrid, and it will be the same for the rest of this week! Hope you all keeping well and warm or cool!

Until next time

Nat

Canberra Visit and Dyeing

Our waiting to visit our son and his family in Canberra finally arrived last weekend. The last time I saw them was Christmas so I was really looking forward to seeing them again. I love taking road  trips and I enjoy the Australian landscape. Australia's landscape is unique. I feel more connected to the land since I started natural dyeing and ecoprint. 

Road trips also give me the opportunity to utilise the travelling time by stitching. I usually take something simple and straightforward to stitch. 

We set off very early to avoid the local traffic, but it till takes about an hour to get out of the city.  Early morning light in the country is beautiful. 

Only few cars on the dual-carriage highway. I love the green landscape this time of year. The landscape is totally different in the summer. 

We took a few stops along the drive. I look for simple beauty in landscapes to photograph. Something about the shape of Eucalyptus trees draws me to take photographs. The leaves, the bark, the colour of them against the blue sky. I am never bored photographing them!

The project I took for car stitching was an old cotton Yukata that I patched with vintage Japanese silk pieces. I started this a few years ago. It's like everything I do; it takes time to complete. 

We stopped for a cup of coffee at Holbrook town about half way into our trip. I took the Yukata out to air in the sun and took a photo to show you. Here it is. The inside of the jacket is reversible. I only stitch around the edges of the patches and let the colour talk to you directly.

My DIL asked if we could do some dyeing while I was there. I took some leaves along from Melbourne and gathered some more along the way. We picked some in the local park nearby as well. 

On her visit to the UK my DIL brought back some copper pennies that she wanted to use in the dye bundles and jars. We dipped, stuffed, rolled and steamed while the children were cooking and baking imaginary food of their own nearby. 

That morning my DIL took me to her weekly farmer's market. We met a friend and her mother who moved there from Melbourne. As it happens her mother was a dyer! She told me that Canberra leaves are better than Melbourne leaves! She meant Eucalyptus leaves in this case. I was excited to tried them!

We used everything we had on hand. We mixed it like true alchemy. We combined purple carrot with eucalyptus leaves and turmeric in some bundles. In other bundles we put beetroot peels, turmeric and sprinkled madder root pieces over them. We dipped some leaves in rusty water to get that rustic look! We had the best time sharing our creative love of dyeing. 

Lastly here is the update on my Upstairs Studio. It's taking shape in leaps and bounds these last couple of weeks. The wall is now up on 2 sides. The windows are also in place and the electricity cables have been installed as well. By the end of this week I'm sure all the four walls will be up. The painting is not all done. Mr. Notjustnat only has the weekend to paint and last weekend we were away so this weekend will be catch-up time. 

Until next time

Nat