Road Trip....

Last week I boarded a bus and went off to the Brisbane Craft and Quilt show...

One of the things on my 'to do' was to see the work and listen to Akiko Ike from Japan....

Chiku Chiku is so named as it describes the sound of the needle going in and out of the fabric so I understand...

I had a wander around some of her work before I went to her talk.... these lovely flags...

... and banners which are used at a special celebration (these days small plastic ones are used she says with a rather disapproving look on her face)

Here she is with her translater next to her.... she seems such a delightful character and a lot of the time one could get the drift of what she was saying with her expressions and hand movements....

I think I would have loved a whole day listening her stories and instructions...

Here is a sample of her work that was on the table for us to touch and look at ...  Akiko Ike gets special cotton yarn woven and dyed for her to use.....

She used old fabrics... here you can see holes which patch up as the fabrics are sewn together...

These are fabrics from old baby nappies... muslin and again one could find holes as they had been well used....

It was a lovely thing to go to and I'm so glad I had a chance...

I spent most of my time looking at the many varied quilts.... lots of really original and amazing work.... though I have seen pictures on social media I'm afraid I am sticking to what they requested....

but there is a gallery of winning quilts that were there on the Queensland Quilters website HERE

You will have to make do with some more of my Dutch Treat blocks ...

Righto, Gotto Go.....  I want to start looking out for and collecting muslin pieces to do some Chiku Chiku....