However, there are plenty of traders who sell things, and you need not go home empty handed.
With a stash of fabric and thread fit to bursting, I had no intention of opening my purse to get any new stuff, until... Until I stumbled upon the Clover stand, that is. How it happened I don't know, but suddenly I was standing there with a little bag of
- beading needles - yes I need them
- a special embroidery threader, a new item - want to give it a try
- a flexible bar with a clip for inserting strings or elastics in trousers or bags - rememberd my old one was broken
- 45˚ diamond templates - for a project in the near future
Please note this is not an advertisement for Clover, although I must say most of their goods are of high quality.
Then I walked out of the show, on the first day, with one more thing. This beautiful gift, a tatting lace necklace that my friend Tanya has made. Isn't it beautiful, and doesn't it look great with my sweater?
When I close my dictionary after having tried to decipher the quilters' names in kanji characters and write them in Roman letter, I also close this series of reports from Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2015, and hope to have some of my own work to show instead.
25 comments:
What a beautiful tatted necklace and it is perfect with that sweater! I agree Clover has some very useful, quality items.
I have to give Clover a thumbs up for the improvements they keep making. When I started quilting years ago, their needles were awful and what didn't break in the first few minutes of use, ended up looking like a U, Of course you could replace them at any button shop but I gave up and found shops selling English needles. I still buy those same needles but have taken another look at Clover items. My favorite is the cutting disc that can ride along with me on airplanes (and even trains). They make one for yarn too
That thread cutter is also great when you have children nearby and don't need to kep an eye on the scissors all the time.
Some of Clover's more recent items are supposed to make pom-pom making, Suffolk puffs and kanzashi flowers easier to make, but I am not tempted by them.
However, when I was looking at the beading needles my eyes fell on the new (to me anyway) embroidery threader. I have tested it now and give it the thumbs up. The elastic band 'threader' is also neat as it clips onto the end of the band and there is no bulk, unlike the old one that had a needle's eye and the elastic had to be double near the needle (do you understand what I mean?) I might have to write a blog report on how I get on with my new Clover goods.
I have been surprised that some of Clover's items are more readily available abroad than in Japan. Maybe because there are other brands here (Cotton Ball, Little House etc) and some shops don't stock Clover's goods.
A beautiful tatted flower - what a nice gift. Making good figure on your sweater but looking very interesting on your dictionary - to decipher characters seems impossible for me - but I am sure you are very well battling your way through to the names.
You need patience more than anything to learn to read the kanji script. Then you need to guess. Look at the word CRIMSON on the right hand page. It can be read:
ko, ku, beni, kurenai, kure, aka, momi, depending on what other character it is joined to. E.g. with the word 'cha' it becomes ko-cha (English tea), with the word 'kuchi' (mouth) it becomes kuchi-beni (lipstick)...
Lovely tatted flower. I have enjoyed each and every of your Quilt Festival reports Queenie. Thank you!!
Good to hear. I'm now working on my WIP for tomorrow's report!
It's good to see you only bought items you needed. I'm curious how the needle threader works. Haven't seen this one before, I'm only familiar with the oldfashioned metal one. The tatted necklace is very pretty.
Lovely flower. The elastic threader sounds useful. Were any of the quilts for sale at the festival?
what I have missed from you..the red coat is so super beautiful, and the stitches and collar fabulous. congratulations. I am so jealous that you are able to goo to those beautiful quilt shows. they are all amazing. the tatting pendant and the candy cane are so pretty, and the quilt supplies remind me all what the company I am working for throw away as damage, according to them. I am working for a craft store, and indeed they are not really damage, they are good, so sad.
Clover does make useful tools and the tatted lace is lovely, lucky you!
OK I will blog about the new embroidery thread threader. I tested it last night and it works well.
You can of course use a safety pin to force a piece of elastic through the tunnel in your pyjama pants, but these threaders are very flexible and perfect for working on e.g. dolls clothes or small bags.
There were no quilts from the show for sale. Some of the traders sold antique quilts from the US, though.
You have been reading a lot of old blog posts, and your eyes might be sore nowIt would be great if the items discarded from your craft store could be donated to a guild's charity bazaar or given to a children's workshop.
Yes, I am indeed lucky!
wonderful series of posts - thank you! The necklace is just beautiful :) I agree, my Clover products are all wonderful!
Isn't the necklace neat? I love wearing it!
Så fin frivolitetsblomma Tanya har gjort.Att ge något handgjort,speciellt gjord för en speciell vän,är mycket inspirerande både för givaren och mottagare.Jag har brevvänner sedan många år och vi gör något speciellt för hand till varandra.Min vän i USA,egentligen från Osaka,som fyller år 15 /1, har fått en mini-biscrnu med röda blackworkbroderier med måttet 4cmx4cm.Började i sommar när vi hade som varmast att göra denna lilla sak.Allt går så fört från september till december.
How nice of you to show my tatting. I am having fun making motifs but can't really find a good way to USE them. Bookmark.... Okay!
Du har så rätt. Att ge och få en hemslöjdad gåva är värd extra mycket.
Vilken liten nåldyna du gjort till din brevvän; var det inte ett pilligt arbete? Att börja i tid är viktigt för att få det gjort. Jag har en online vän som börjat med julprydnaderna redan nu - en per månad under hela året ska hon göra.
Your gift is such a treasure, as it the Bloom where you are planted quilt. I think the tatted lace can make wonderful bookmarks.
Ja lite pilligt men den var samtidigt så rolig att göra.Jag har börjat med röda sockar med spetsmönster till min kära syster och det blir till födelsedagspresent eller julklapp.Julprydnader låter kul.Vi virkade några julkulor på stickeventet vi hade i november och det var mycket avkopplande jobb.Kanske några kulor till vore något men jag tror jag får göra dem helt klara och lägga dem som små frukter i en skål nu.Dekoration behövs nu när granen och annat pynt har städats bort.I morgon åker vi på Jokkmokks marknad.Ha en bra dag.
To Tanya-what a good way to use the tatted thing.Wish you a nice day too.
Att sticka med ullgarn passar väl bra på vintern. Ha det så trevligt.
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