Saturday, November 8, 2014

Yokohama quilt show, part 1

With my battery charged and a brand new chip in my camera, I was ready to head out to the train station. My husband said I should take a picture of him, just to make sure I had the chip set right.

Smile and say "cheese".

Actually, Nikko will do just about anything for cheese and you don't have to hold her head.

Yep, camera is working, I've got my train schedule and even remembered my cell phone just in case. Off to the mobile sardine-can! 860-some yen and I had to hang from a strap for the first hour of the trip! So much for senior seats!


As I came down the escalator at the site, the line was building up in front of the entry.

This is the third day crowd and among them a good number of foreigners. There was a large tour group coming from Australia, and my Friday group had a contingent too.


I met up with Carin and headed in with map in hand and a plan in mind.

Some of the first places we viewed requested no pictures. Those were special exhibits by well-known quilters. Probably many of those quilts have been featured in books or magazines. We did notice an improvement in that many of the names of the quilters represented were written in English.
Also, the exhibit areas were covered by volunteer staff in pink smocks, and many of those spoke to me in English. Though conversations quickly switched to Japanese, I was pleased to see that an event that calls itself "International" is working in that direction.

Some of the featured exhibits were "Colorful World of Kaffe Fassett, (we saw him giving a presentation to a standing-room-only crowd), Kathy Nakajima, (who usually has an exhibition spot featuring her Hawaiian quilts), Fumiko Nakayama's wonderful Mola quilts, (saw her giving a talk too), Faculty showcase ... whatever that means, and quilts by previous judges.

Yoko Saito had a spot and there were "Japanese Quilts" by Yoshiko Katagiri. There were quilts from Korea and Taiwan, "Tail of Genji" quilts, and a few other exhibits where photographs were not allowed. I felt I was watched because I had a camera hanging around my neck but I saw many Japanese and foreigners taking pictures with their cell phones and I-pads. I see many wonderful pictures on different blogs of quilts taken at shows in the States. I have only been to one show there (except for museum shows) and pictures were allowed everywhere. I wonder why pictures are not allowed. Certainly those taken are more "snap-shots" than anything that might be put in a book.

Well, the contest areas DID allow photos and some of those were astounding.

The first area we viewed was a Miniature Quilts "Star challenge" ... in fact there were several challenge areas and all of those were quite charming. The "star challenge" gave each participant three small pieces of three different fabrics.



You can see them on the poster below,  a yellow print with small pictures printed on it, a purple and blue check on a white background, and a brown floral print with yellow, white and dark red flowers.

The rules were to make a star design.
Use each of the three fabric bits somewhere in the piece,
and finished size, 20 x 20 centimeters.

There were plenty of star patterns but there were some that were not readily easy to spot. Some of those feature fabrics were easy to see but just as many were very cleverly hidden.

There were a few with little ribbons attached which I assume were given special prized.



This is how they were displayed.

There must have been several hundred of them.

They reminded me of the "Partnership Quilts" at the Tokyo Dome show. In that case, the blocks have a theme but no fabric requirement other than size, and they are placed in quilts that are then raffled off.













Here the stars are in the background .

One flower from the brown print is on  the cat's tail and the other two fabrics are appliqued in the stars.








Here is a cute one.

I am fond of owls so took note.













Considering the total size is only 20 cm., this is very lovely piecing on this little feathered star.


Challenge pieces are in the center star and star points.













Here are a few with pink ribbons attached.



Can you find the star and the featured fabrics?













Here is another.

I will be waiting to see what Queenie might post.

We were both running around this place with our cameras.


It was fun to examine the many entries and hunt the stars and fabrics... Kind of like an adult game of "I Spy"!


Names of the quilters and title of the bock are listed on the slip below along with the location of the quilter.

I think I recall a similar challenge last year so it must have become a regular feature of this show and has picked upin popularity.

Well, I am having some issues with blogger and will make another post if this one goes through.
... maybe tomorrow if time allows.

14 comments:

  1. Lots of fun little quilts and creative pieces. It is shame that you couldn't take photos but I know I see photos of the show on other's sites, so I think being sneaky is the trick, lol. When I do show photos, I keep the flash off, that is something that can ruin quilts, over time.

    Debbie

    ReplyDelete
  2. What fun - but I can't imagine the long train ride and the lines. Beautiful work by everyone and I love seeing your husband and Nikko.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for taking us along on your journey!

    ReplyDelete
  4. this is a huge show, will you visit more than once? Lovely blocks using the challenge fabrics, and yes, your battery was in good working order. Thanks for sharing. Enjoy, Jean.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This post came through just fine - and I'm glad I was able to join you once again as you and Queenie explore the show. The adult game of "I Spy" is fun - some of the challenge fabrics are VERY cleverly hidden giving the viewer his/her own "challenge" to find them. Thanks for sharing - ;))

    ReplyDelete
  6. It was indeed lovely to visit the show in your company. We see so much more with two pairs of eyes!
    You are very quick in blogging! As I have been having Blogger problems, too, I am late in posting, but will sit down to the task now. It will be like visiting the show for a second time!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mom, next time take a photo of the people on the train who won't give you a seat in the priority section...maybe the photos will still be traveling around in cyberspace by the time they get old, and will look back in shame! :) - Norie

    ReplyDelete
  8. I enjoyed your post even without those famous quilter's works - it made me smile and I hope you gave a bit of cheese to Nikko after he heard the mouthwatering word.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great quilts. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love seeing your husband and Nikko!

    You and Carin look like you had fun! I wish I lived closer and could have joined you...

    ReplyDelete
  11. It is not unusual in the states at big shows for special exhibits to be 'no photos' - sometimes it is because there is a well-photographed exhibit book/catalogue for sale, sometimes because (especially with antique quilts) there is fear of photo-degredation of the quilts. :)

    I enjoyed your post - am going off to look for more on your blog. Got here following a link from Queenie's Needlework.

    :) Linda

    ReplyDelete
  12. Large quilt shows like this are sometimes overwhelming to me...there's so much to see! blessings, marlene

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm glad there was more English at the show! I love these show posts from you and Queenie! And by the way I think Norie's idea is a good one, ha ha. For such a polite society, train manners are quite lacking when it comes to those priority seats!

    ReplyDelete
  14. The show looks fascinating. That tiny Christmas tree is our favorite. It sounds like a tiring subway trip but so glad you had fun once you arrived. Thanks for sharing the story and photos (what a great photo of your DH and Nikko ! )

    ReplyDelete