Quilt show part 4

This is finally the last of the quilt show pictures. What I have covered is only a small part of the show and just what caught my eye. I think that since, I am a hand quilter, I tend to look more closely and appreciate hand work. In truth though, there seemed to be more hand quilting here than in the Yokohama show. I'm glad my husband encouraged me to go back on the last day. I got to see so much more than on the crowded earlier trip. I also had time to have another visit with Mary Haunani Cesar, who is not only a Hawaiian Master Quilter, but the kind of teacher and friend anyone could wish to find. She had a nice exhibit in Yokohama and a small booth among the shops at this show.

There was one section of the show dedicated to the disaster. As in Yokohama, there were quilted items donated for auction to raise funds.

In addition, there was this selection of quilts, roughly translated, "Prayers by Needles" made to encourage those recovering from the March quake and tsunami.

Above is a pieced hinomaru (Japanese flag) entitled With a Single Mind by Misaki Okabe.

Tree of Life - Regeneration

by Keiko Miyachi.

Beautiful Hometown Again

by Mieko Miyama.

Each of the flower prints was hand embroidered with more detail and embellishment.

We Desire to Walk Slowly

by Chiyo Hosokawa.

This was quite a large quilt and I only got a detail

Didn't record the title but this piece was by Emiko Toda Loeb. It was embellished with beads.

Field Wind

by Yoko Sekita.










Here is a detail. This is all hand applique and embroidery.

Considering the disaster was in March, I am amazed at the degree of hand work in these quilts in such a short time. Any of these would take me years and years to complete!

Here are a few other things I found on my camera. I do not remember the category.

This by Okabe had tons of French knots all over.

This is only a detail. I took it the first day, did not get close enough to see title or maker's name but I thought it an interesting conglomeration of cats.

this quilt, too, was lovely but I did not get the name.



It was probably among the traditional quilts.

Many years ago I went to a small quilt show and was amazed with the quilts that were copies of Baltimore Album
quilts. Down to the last detail... you could probably go to a book on quilt history and find the original. That show was so filled with reproductions that I went away thinking Japanese quilters must be obsessed. That was probably 30 years ago and in this time I have seen many changes. There is still wonderful attention to detail but these days quilters are using their own colors and re-arranging techniques to make fantastic original one-of-a-kind quilts. They tell a lot more about the artist than their ability to copy.

And in parting ... I went back to that first picture I took to see what the celebrity quilt was all about. Surprise!

The crowd of fans were still there and though I seem to be closer, I was holding the camera above my head. I never could see more than a tiny section. I think there was red velvet and a heart.

So... That's my take on the show, A lot of inspiring work, a few ideas spinning in my head, stuff in shops to dream about owning, techniques I might want to try, some warm exchanges with friends, and a tired back from all that walking. I took the train the long way around so I could sit all the way home.
Back to my own projects that now seem a bit BLAH in comparison!

Quilt show part 3

In the large open area there were perhaps ten sections where quilts were displayed. In some of those areas, photographs were forbidden. One area had a big display of Alice in Wonderland theme stuff. I thought it was rather a wasted space. There was some quilted stuff and theme things to buy.

Another area had room-like sections for some well known teachers. Many of those teachers specialize in one style of work
such as Hawaiian quilts or Japanese indigo and the like. Fumiko Nakayama specializes in Mola style quilts and this one was quite stunning.


The first day I went was so crowded and I could only take a few details of things I could get far enough away without including people. I am sorry I did not record the category or the quilters name. This one had some nice stitchery

This is the bottom corner of a very large quilt. It almost looks like a village on a hillside.

Each year there are group quilts. The paper at the side tells the name of the person who made that particular block.

Some were dogs, hearts, houses, etc. but I rather liked these Ohio stars. I do not know the process of how the final blocks were assembled and quilted.

Another group quilt.

And another

More stars.













I do not remember where this quilt was placed either. It might have been part of the original quilts. I have made a number of alphabet quilts but none were this complicated.

Here is a detail of the center.

And another group quilt with lots of hearts.








I still have one more category to cover so there will be one more part to follow.

Quilt show part 2

Every year at this show there is a selection of quilts made by well-known "Sensei". This year they appeared as framed quilts. Again all the titles and names were in Japanese so not easy to locate the work of one particular artist.

This one by Suzuki caught my eye. I love those Japanese fabrics and though I don't care much for "wall art", this one I found pleasing.

Next few are from the "WA" classification. (Harmony or Peace)

Again titles and names were in Japanese. This forest is by Sawamura.

This is a detail of a quilt using fussy-cut kasuri, a fabric that is woven after the thread is dyed. I love kasuri and can't think of chopping it up into little pieces but this effect was stunning.


Below is the entire quilt.

There are supposed to be 30 cats in this hanging. It was quite popular with the camera crowd. I guess there are a lot of cat-lovers among quilters.

A closer view showed raw edges and machine embroidery.

Naoko Suzuki

Next catagory was "Original Design".

This quilt entitled "Barcelona" seems to celebrate food.

I wonder if Fukushima-san

made a trip.

This quilt made in Mola style shows constellations.

The quilter, Yabe-san, did an amazing amount of work.

This unusual quilt seems to celebrate the artist's pet labrador, Nezi.

The maker, Yoshida, seems to have included various aspects of her dog's life along with a hounds tooth plaid made of patchwork.

When westerners look at the moon, they see a man's face but the Japanese see a rabbit pounding mochi.

This is a detail just to show the number of rabbits that make up this moon in the quilt below.

Again this has an amazing amount of hand work done by Ogura.

With a Halloween birthday, how could I not show this creation?

Fairy Circle is made by Takase and all hand appliqued and quilted.





There were way too many quilts on display to show them all but these are some that caught my eye.


To be continued...

TOKYO International Great Quilt Festival part 1

Wednesday I went to Tokyo Dome for the quilt show. It was HOT and very crowded. I enjoyed what I could see. More pictures were allowed but it was almost impossible to take any because of all the visitors. Today I went back again and learned something, the last day is less crowded. I was able to take as many pictures as I wanted. Sorry to say, all the names as well as the titles were written in Japanese. I would prefer to give credit where I can so this is my best try. Part 1 is "Traditional". The above is by Gang-Hee Lee, called "Now, here I am happy". It is all in half-inch square pieces!

This is by Takane.

The quilting is in short dashes giving a very interesting effect.

"My Baltimore" by Shimada

uses an interesting color combination.

This quilt by Suzuki has blue embroidered Sun-bonnet Sues in each block.

I couldn't get the title but these animals and people are appliqued all over by Sumi?

"Red quilt filled with love" by Kimura.

This was really more stunning than the picture shows. By Hayashi.

Another 9-patch hexagon called "yorokobi" or Joy. by Sakaguchi.

"Flower Quartet" by Sugaya.

The pale colors gave a quiet feeling.

This is a detail of the one below. The figures are appliqued by machine with raw edges. They did not look very sturdy but they were so cute.

This is by Takemori. (I think)

By Karino

These little angles are by Sato.

Each one is different.

Except for the one machine applique piece, all are hand applique and hand quilted. There were some machine quilted ones, but most were beautifully hand done.

I am not very good at arranging pictures. My friend put them on a slide show which might handle more but I am not that tech savvy. More next post.

A Banner Day!

Have you ever heard the expression, "Busier than a one-arm paper-hanger"? Well, that seems to describe my week so far. Monday began with the usual wee-hour start for rice patrol, then putting my gear back to the car. ( had put baby seat and camping gear into the house to make room for passengers to the conference). Then a date to meet a friend for most of the rest of the day. Tuesday was a work day on the auction quilt and my English class. Meanwhile, when I returned from the conference, the fridge was making lots of noise and though it stopped or got less from time to time, I asked my husband to call the repairman. The fridge has reached the 13 year point and after 9 years they stop making parts. If we wait too long to have it fixed, we might have to pay to have it replaced instead...so... That visit being set for Thursday, I decided to take in the Tokyo Dome quilt show while I had time to spend.


So, here I am, the week more than half gone, and yet to report on the Conference class.

I am so grateful for the advice and also the encouragement from my blogging friends. The class went fine and you can see on the left, all the work that got done. I didn't count the attendees but it seemed there were perhaps more than 15 or so. Some were real beginners at sewing and maybe some could have taught the class. I let them select any colored strips they wanted to put together. It seems the total effect is balanced enough. We managed to get signatures of all and two borders have been added. I plan to finish off the top and bottom border, binding, and quilting and we will hang it at next years conference.

The day started off with snow and the weekend was cold, gray, and rainy. I usually take advantage of the location to pick "Sugi" flowers. Pollen from the male Cryptomeria flowers is wind borne and responsible for severe allergies each spring. I pick the flowers and make a tea by boiling them. I do not have that allergy but my husband has gone from great suffering in the past, to barely a sniffle, even last year which was a boon year for pollen.

The rain stopped and a hint of sun emerged as we left the conference. Suddenly Fuji-San appeared and I was able to pull off the highway so everyone could get out and snap a few photos.
I must have tons of pictures of Fuji but couldn't resist one more.

Wednesday I set off to the Tokyo Dome. Here is a shot taken from the upper deck where one enters the arena. Look at those crowds!

I found there were fewer restrictions on picture taking this year.

Then, again, look at the challenges faced when trying to get a picture!

How many cell-phone cameras can you count?

I was holding the camera up above the crowd. I never did get close enough to see what they were photographing but a lady in the back told me it was a quilt with a connection to some celebrity.

Although this is supposed to be an "international" quilt show, there were very few labels with any English at all (other than international entries). If I show a picture, I would like to give credit to the artist and some I copied down the names in kanji and will ask my husband to read them for me before I post.

In general, it was a better arranged show than former years. I understand I selected the most crowded day, according to some friends with vendor stalls. It was HOT. (over-heated to the max) There is a lot of walking and though I stayed until the visitors thinned a bit, my back was just too tired to walk another step.

I took the train the long way around the loop just so I could sit on the way home. No view of Fuji, I had my nose in a book on Hawaiian quilts ... yes, I broke down and spent the money my husband gave me for a snack on a book I don't need... quilt history... just jumped off that shelf and I had to pay or get caught shop-lifting.