I spent part of today at a quilting workshop in town learning how to do Japanese Meshwork. Earlier in the week I spent a few hours making the bias strips I used in my ‘tumbling blocks’ piece. A word about these bias strips—they aren’t made from the bias of the fabric. They’re cut on the straight grain, then put through some type of bias tape maker to create the double-fold strips.
Japanese Meshwork has no sewing in it, until you need to add borders etc. It’s all about weaving the fabric. And it takes some time to get the technique right. However, within a few hours all five of us at the workshop had a handle on it, though whether I could repeat the technique at a later date remains to be seen!
Here are some of our efforts:
My Christmas Tumbling Blocks - Japanese Meshwork piece (9 in square)
Bobbie's Cafe Blocks (9 in square)
Jane's stars and diamonds (6 x 12 in)
Flora's lattice - in progress (6 x 12 in)
Using the bodkin to weave the strips
See also: Japanese Meshwork: Finished
Rhonda Bracey: At Random 