Beyond the Festival of Quilts: Jogakbo Light Catcher

Aug 5, 2020Aug 5, 2020 toomanystitches12 Comments

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As it seems everything else in life has had to go online, I supposed it was only an inevitability until things like craft shows and festivals started finding ways to transport themselves to the digital domain. This is exactly what the Festival of Quilts was experimenting with, with their ‘Beyond the Festival of Quilts’ event, which caught my eye for the digital masterclasses on offer.

astitchornine (2)

Time-lapse Ice Dyeing

Jul 29, 2020Jul 28, 2020 toomanystitches13 Comments

One of the many, many things I like about dyeing, dyes and dyed objects is they make fantastic photography subjects. Maybe that’s because, for me, a load of coloured splodges in a suitable colour scheme are high art and that combination of things is really the essence of dyeing.

astitchornine (11)

The Bernina Beast (790 Plus)

Jul 8, 2020Jul 8, 2020 toomanystitches4 Comments

There is a new member of the family that I have yet to have the pleasure of introducing you all to yet… My new Bernina 790 Plus. (Complete with embroidery module because the thing wasn’t monstrously huge enough without it).

astitchornine (2)

Bernina Shop, Zürich

Jun 17, 2020Jun 16, 2020 toomanystitches8 Comments

One of the nice things about being in Switzerland, as well as the beautiful scenery, perfect trains and wonderful cheese, is the number of Bernina stores dotted about the place. Some of them are in surprising places, it often feels like you’ll see one in every small village, but they are usually excellent haberdasheries as well as sewing machine technology wonderlands.

astitchornine (1)

Delicious Food and Delicious Fabric in Trieste, Italy

May 20, 2020May 17, 2020 toomanystitches5 Comments

I’ve been debating for a while when would be a good time to publish several of my posts that have been languishing from trips I took back when international travel was still a routine part of my job. As things tentatively start to open up, in those countries at least, perhaps now is a good time to give some airtime to two truly excellent fabric stores in Italy.

astitchornine (27)

Spycher Handwerk, Huttwill, Switzerland

Nov 13, 2019Nov 11, 2019 toomanystitches4 Comments

It’s very easy to feel that you’re in the middle of nowhere in Switzerland. Even Geneva, which is the second most populated city in Switzerland, has a population of less than two hundred thousand. The five biggest cities represent 40 % of the total population, making it relatively easy to ‘escape to the countryside’ where there are some excellent hidden gems of craft shops.

astitchornine (3)

Swiss Tour IV – Käse, Museums and Wollelade

Nov 6, 2019Nov 3, 2019 toomanystitches2 Comments

As well as the wonderful local architecture and the delightful Museum Appenzell, there is another historical textile treat outside of the main village, the Appenzeller Volkskunde-Museum, which also affords you the opportunity to enjoy the local, rolling hills and scenery. This is the folk museum dedicated to the local working culture and heritage.

astitchornine (1)

Swiss Tour III – Appenzell Village and the Museum Appenzell

Oct 23, 2019Oct 20, 2019 toomanystitches3 Comments

On the north east side of Switzerland is the canton of Appenzell (well, Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden if you want to be exact). Confusingly enough, the capital of Appenzell Innerrhoden is a village also called Appenzell, which is the largest village in the canton with a population of a whopping 6000 people.

astitchornine (5)

Swiss Tour II – Brunnen and Créasphère

Oct 16, 2019Oct 12, 2019 toomanystitches1 Comment

After a fascinating visit to the open-air museum in Ballenberg, the next stop on the tour was to see another geographical feature Switzerland is famous for, lakes. Apparently, Switzerland has a total of 103 lakes of varying sizes, impressive given the total area of the country only amounts to 41 285 km² (15 940 sq mi) with a lot of mountains to squeeze in that area too.

astitchornine (1)

Swiss Tour I – Ballenberg

Oct 2, 2019Oct 1, 2019 toomanystitches6 Comments

I’ve blogged before about how a country’s textile history often shaped its social and cultural history, as well as infrastructure and landscape, and Switzerland is no exception to that. While perhaps most famous for the St. Gallen embroideries and lace (and you can see some fantastic examples of that at the local textile museum), Switzerland also has a rich history of silk and cotton production and even passementerie, particularly in the Basel region.

astitchornine (1)

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