Sashiko, Perhaps?

Greetings from Argentina! Unfortunately my 16.5 hour travel day turned into a 41+ hour travel day(s) thanks to a major flight cancellation. But I made it here. I know most of you visit me here to talk about crafts and quilts so I'm not going to bore you with travel details, but for those of you who are interested in following my journey you can pop on over to my new travel blog In Search of the Elusive Rare Parrot and I'll promise to keep this one primarily about my crafty life.

I did mention that on my last trip to New York I was able to make a pit stop at Purl Soho and I managed to be relatively good while I was there. I did consider buying some yardage while I was there but I ended up putting the bolts back on the shelf and convinced myself that since I was about to fly to South America for three weeks it would be totally insane to spend money on fabrics with no purpose. That's not to say I didn't buy anything.

I had been considering what type of hand stitching project I wanted to take with me on the trip. Traveling alone for three weeks I knew that I would be jonesing for some kind of sewing while on the road. I was leaning toward English paper piecing but then at Purl I ran across their Sashiko kits. I have always loved the look of Sashiko and I have always wanted to try the technique so I thought this trip might be the perfect opportunity. Purl has several patterns to choose from and has a range of traditional Sashiko threads for sale as well. I ended up with two kits to take on the road with me and a variety of colorful threads. This project wil be entirely portable, since it's compact and light. The only thing I forgot to purchase at Purl was a Sashiko needle. I looked for one during my one day home, but ran out of time so I opted to pick up a pack of quilters basting needles as a substitute. When I researched the technique I discovered that traditional Sashiko needles are longer than regular needles and the eye of the needle is close to the same size as the shaft. Hopefully these are a viable alternative.

And I know I said I walked out of there without any yardage... but I did break down and buy a few remnants. I was able to justify these fabrics because they were end of the bolt and slightly discounted.

I also bought one of their scrap bags because I was intrigued by the bird linen scrap. Sue me. Hopefully I'll find some intriguing crafty stuff to report about while I'm on the road. Until then, Adios y Buenos Noches!