A Selection of Patterns
for some of my most popular quilts.

• All printed in full colour.
• For skill levels beginner to intermediate.

All patters £4.95 each + £1.00 P+P for first pattern + .60p for each additional pattern (mainland UK)

Oriental Log Cabin Sampler
Have a big stash clear out for this Oriental fabric Log Cabin sampler! The seven different 8in Log Cabin blocks use 1in and 1½in strips, with a few larger squares, so you can use up long and short strips alike. A mixture of large scale Oriental prints with smaller prints and tone-on-tones make it a scrap quilt with a difference. It is assembled using the quilt-as-you-go method, so you can use up scraps of wadding, and make it reversible too!

Log Cabin quilts are popular with Japanese quilters, who often explore the variations on the basic block to produce unusual effects. The prints used in this version are similar to the kimono scraps favoured by many quilters, so you can get the look without sacrificing vintage kimono. The ad hoc mixture of colours, patterns and scales are another feature of Japanese quilts which add to their charm. The sampler quilt would work well with other fabric types, such as taupe or batik, with more subdued indigo blues, rust and cream, in black and white or whatever you fancy.

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Fukusa Appliqué Cushions
These machine appliqué cushions would add an elegant Japanese touch to any interior. They make good use of large scale oriental prints, bringing the tradition of broderie persé up to date, with an opportunity to practice your free motion machine quilting on the tone-on-tone backgrounds – and hide any quilting wobbles with extra appliqué!

Sparkling metallic machine threads outline the motifs, imitating embroidered the kinkoma (couched metal threads) often used to highlight yuzen dyeing and traditional Japanese embroidery. The designs are based on fukusa, traditional Japanese gift covering cloths decorated with auspicious motifs – the burgundy cushion has a fan, “flower cards” and clamshell pattern, with autumn flowers and maple leaves, while the lilac one depicts a pair of butterflies flitting among the wisteria branches in early summer.

The cushions fit a standard 16 inch pad.

Instructions include full colour photos of stitching details.

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O-neesan - Elder Sister
Have you ever wondered what to make from an Oriental or other scenic panel? The top and bottom borders of this wallhanging were cut from a Kona Bay panel featuring a Japanese landscape, Kyoto’s Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion), that I was given as a present, although the design can be used with any scenic panel or large scale landscape print.

Overlapping one traditional Sister’s Choice block with another produced an interesting pattern of 2in squares, as the triangle square pairs from one block can become part of another. The block name also suggested the quilt’s title. “O-neesan” (or “Onesan”, pronounced oh – nee – san), meaning “elder sister”, is the Kyoto dialect name given to an elder geisha or older maiko by her apprentice (a more junior maiko). The triangle square corners of the blocks looked like butterfly wings in my sketch, so I emphasised this with my choice of fabrics. Very few fabrics are needed, keeping the ultra colour coordinated effect, and it is suitable for large scale oriental prints. Enhance the panel with a simple machine quilted grid in multicolours and metallic threads, or quilt as you like.

Finished size 30in x 18in (may be made longer, depending on your panel choice).

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99 Treasures
With 99 appliqué circles, hand quilted in big stitch in a combination of traditional Japanese shippo tsunagi (linked seven treasures) and fundo (balance weights) designs, "99 Treasures" just had to be the name for this quilt!

In Japan, red is the girls' colour and white the boys'. The two are combined in New Year decorations, sacred shrine ropes and wedding draperies, among other things.

The circle fabrics are all Japanese patchwork cottons, featuring birds, animals, fish, flowers, leaves, dolls and abstract patterns. It would make a fun first bed quilt or a colourful wallhanging.

Finished size: 52 x 44 in. approx.

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Irori (Hearth)
Capture the Japanese country look with this quick to piece quilt made from 9-inch blocks that echo the layout of the traditional irori, the sunken hearth that was the centre of farmhouse life.

Combining stripes, checks and oriental prints, the blocks are easy to make using part sewn seams. The blocks are ideal for 14½in wide traditional Japanese fabrics or fat quarters of American country flannels, European woven cottons or Japanese taupe quilt fabrics.

The patchwork is arranged in strips, with each column stepping down by a third, giving the quilt a sense a movement. The design can be varied by increasing or decreasing the number of fabrics used for the blocks.

Finish the quilt by quilting in the ditch or add the optional sashiko-style big stitch quilting design included in the instructions.

Finished size: 69 in square approx.

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Japanese Fans - Strippy Quilt
Increase your good fortune with these opening fans alternating with a large scale gold print - when fabric is too gorgeous to cut up into small pieces, a simple strippy quilt can be the ideal solution to show it off!

A large scale Japanese gold print is combined with a smaller wave design and eight different fabrics for the fans.

Choose from four options to make the fan blocks with full instructions for each - curved piecing (as shown), freezer paper appliqué, bonded appliqué or, more elaborately, foundation pieced fans with curved piecing.

Complete the quilt with simple machine quilting using a walking foot and some of the utility stitches on your machine. A hand quilting option is included.

For a different look, try nostalgic romance with pastel floral prints, edging each fan with an appliquéd lace trim.

Finished size: 72 x 52 in approx.

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Masu (Square Stacking Measures)
This easy to piece block is great for slightly thicker fabrics, like wool and silk kimono fabrics, Japanese taupe textured cottons, woven plaids or stripes and flannels.

Thirty six blocks make a quick machine sewn quilt from eighteen different fabrics, plus a bright centre square, framed by a wide border suitable for larger patterns.

The square in a square block design is reminiscent of traditional stacking masu, Japanese wooden measuring boxes.

Instructions include piecing diagrams, quilt assembly plan and quilting suggestion.

Finished size: 77 in square approx.

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New Year's Eve In Yamagata City
This festive quilt combining sparkly seasonal prints with Japanese fabrics will be the highlight of your New Year celebrations!

The design is ideal for displaying other large print fabrics and is "fat quarter friendly".

The main block is a simplified "Court House Steps" and is quick to piece. The block centres are tied and it is quilted in big-stitch.

Finished size: 78 in square approx.

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Shimacho Sashiko Cushion
This asymmetric patchwork of squares and rectangles is easier to make than it looks, thanks to part sewn seams, and makes the perfect background for the popular sashiko quilting pattern asanoha (hemp leaf).

I used blue, brown and cream to echo the colours of the Japanese countryside in traditional fabrics. It is also suitable for collections of checked and striped "country style" flannels.

Shimacho literally means "stripe book". These were reference scrapbooks kept by country weavers, mostly women, who pasted fabric pieces of various sizes onto long sheets of thick paper, stored folded into a concertina shape. Fabrics were predominantly indigo dyed, so the colours range from off-white through pale blue to blue-black, with ochre browns and yellows, which could also be dyed by boiling indigo.

Stripes, checks and kasuri (Japanese ikat) were all included – from tiny snippets of fine stripes to larger pieces of pictorial kasuri.

Finished cushion size: 21 in square approx.

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Time and Again
Create a quilt full of memories with a collection of special fabrics for the block centres.

I used squares of old Japanese kimono silks dating from the 1920s to the 1990s and combined them with marble-effect batiks and tie-dyed cotton.

The appliqué falling cherry blossoms are a poetic image suggesting time passing. Big stitch quilting in shaded threads and patterns adapted from the old sashiko design masu (stacking boxes) complete the quilt.

The original quilt is 60 x 40 in, made with 6 in blocks. Made with 9 in blocks, the design becomes a single bed quilt 90 x 60 in. The pattern includes instructions for both sizes.

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