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!