Susan Briscoe Designs

ALERT - Problem with some Olympus sashiko sampler placemats and hanafukin squares sold since July 2026!!

The manufacturer of the panels shown below, Olympus Thread Mfg. Co., Japan, have alerted me to a printing problem with some (not all!) of these panels which were sent out to me from the beginning of July this year. Only the ones printed on blue are affected.

There has been a problem with a batch of printing ink they were supplied with around June, and it is rubbing off the printed panels as you stitch them. Not good.

Unfortunately, the panels don't have batch numbers printed on them, so we don't know for certain which ones are affected. In the case of the square sampler panels shown below, they will have become mixed up with stock that was supplied to me earlier too. So you may have one of the panels below which is perfectly fine, or you may have one where the print rubs off early in stitching.

You can tell if a panel has been printed with the wrong ink, because the design will rub off quite easily. I tried one myself yesterday, and will try all the others I have in stock. Rub the edge of a panel with your fingers just to check. If the lines rub off without much effort - as if they were chalk lines - you have one of the faulty ones. 

What you need to do - If you have bought any of these panels from me, and the pattern is rubbing off too easily, please contact me using the Contact form (click here) and include the panel number (beginning with H or L) in your message. The plan is that these panels will be replaced (I'm not sure when, or if the replacement panels are ready yet). Right now, I don't know if Olympus want the faulty panels returned to me - I'm hoping they will just send me replacement panels to send out asap - because of course you would be able to rinse out the faulty printing and use the fabric for something else (it is great for backing boro!), and the cost of sending any faulty panels back to them in Japan will be ridiculous relative to the value of the panels anyway.

So check your panel numbers please, and check if the pattern is rubbing off! I hope we can get this issue sorted asap. Olympus say that the affected panels include the numbers below - but may not be ALL the panels with that number.

I will contact everyone who bought from me online re this, and also put the information in a newsletter. But I have no way of contacting people who bought from me at quilt shows (Newcastle or Shambellie are the only two shows I've done with potentially faulty stock). So please let people know!