Getting creative - Tokyo Dome part 5

I am not sure how quilters decide which category to enter their work in. Many of the "Traditional" quilts were very innovative.

I did notice among the "original design quilts" there was more machine piecing and machine quilting and fused applique. BUT, that being said, there was also a lot of hand-work and the same attention to detail found among the traditional ones.

This quilt, "Throughout One Day" by Miyoko Sekiya  is very rich in detail ... and I might add, charm.

Even the appliqued border is very creative. This was a popular entry and hard to get a picture of with all the surrounding fans.

This quilt, 'late Summer" by Yumiko Saita
has a great deal of hand work in the aplique and quilting.

The light brown areas near the border are many small pieces squares to get the mottled effect.

I can't imagine the time this must have taken.

Tanya had a lovely detail of these fish by Yasuko Kawaguchi.

It is all done in Mola style and has a wonderful variety of color  ,,, actually better than what my camera shows.

This cute quilt with the title of "Orusuban".

Meaning loosely,"Home Alone" Shows
what this quilter's dogs get into. ... and I thought Nikko was naughty!

It was made by Toshiko Maeda.

Enjoy this detail of those naughty dogs.  Plenty of embellishments too.

This bright cheerful quilt is called "My Town".

Sakuko Sumita  may have machine pieced these houses but the quilt is all finished by hand.

I might have expected to find this quilt among the "Wa" quilts.


The title is "Why Don't You Try to Take One Step Forward".

It is the work of Ritsuko Ishizuka.


It is also hand quilted.

This one has been machine quilted and is by Kimie Kawaii.

the title is Perpetuity or maybe Eternity.
Whatever the title, it is a real eye-catcher.

This quilt looks like mosaic tiles and is quite stunning in detail.



It is called "Paris, My Dream" and was made by Ikuko Shigemasa.

This quilt called "Anne Shirley"

is the work of Fumiko Nakanishi.

Just red, black and white but quite an interesting variety of fabrics used ...


and some fussy-cut text added in.

Probably machine pieced but hand quilted with embroidery on the faces.

           "Viva Cotswald" is another lovely pieceof hand work. It was made by Keiko Iwatani.

 "Green Curtain"  is the work of Sumiko Aoki.  It is almost so busy with detail, you hardly know where to look.

 "Halloween Midnight Party" is machine made by Kinuko Ota. This year there were two Halloween quilts.
The other one I only got a small detail of an owl and I think that quilter makes a Halloween quilt every year.

"Silent Night" is by Tamiko Umawatari.

This looks a bit like a Wa quilt to me. I like those fussy-cut hexagons in the tree.

This quilter makes an entry every year of black and white cats. This one is called "Zen Practice Studio of Neko Theatrical Company" and is made by Naoko Suzuki.

This is raw-edge applique and lots of embroidery and hand quilted.

No way I can tell you what the writing says!












Here are the Original design winners. I can't say I agree with the judges choices  but they are interesting and certainly Original.

"Tightrope" by Jim Hay received the third prize. I wished I could read the description to see what was the idea behind this piece of work. There was a lot of machine appliqued raw edges. I don't think one would see this quilt on a bed.

Second prize was "Rose Garden" by Takako? Ishinami.

And the first prize went to Yumi Odajima for "Log Cabin II" . Probably machine pieced but quilted by hand. I cn
t say I am a big fan of "Wonky" but the colors are bright and attractive and probably it wouldn't be as interesting if all the blocks were orderly

 These are the over-all winners. I wonder which categories they were entered in to begin with.
This quilt by Reiko Hatakeyama received the "Friendship award.

 I think this second prize winner by Akiko Watanabe would have been my first choice among the winners. The detail has been done to perfection.

 The Grand Prize went to Etsuko Misaka for this quilt. .. Maybe a "Wa" entry.

And this ... "My sweet house with KIRARA" won the "Hand Making Award". It was made by Ayako Kawakami and certainly does have plenty of hand made detail.

So, this is about it for this year's Tokyo Dome show. In early May there will be another show of 80 pieces at Mitsukoshi, The Oedo Nihonbashi  Show... something about May Weather is the topic.  My friend Yasuko Kuraishi will have a quilt in that show again this year so I hope to go. I can't remember if  photos are allowed at that show or not.

I wish I had some work of my own to post. I have been slowly working on a Christmas tree skirt for my elder daughter, though her birthday has past at the beginning of the week. Scout stuff comes in big hunks and I was busy with a Pack meeting Friday, teaching knife skills on Saturday and a den meeting Sunday afternoon. We are getting ready for a pinewood derby and everyone is curious about what my car will be this year. I have to admit I am having trouble coming up with a new idea every year.  Luckily, an owl whispered in my ear and gave me an idea so Tuesday I got out my knife and the block of wood and today I added some paint. I will introduce my entry when he is finished. For now ... it is time for some shut-eye, This took a lot longer than I thought it would!

What's a tradition? - Tokyo Dome, part 4

Were you to attend a quilt show in Japan, you might begin to think these quilters had an obsession to detail. Many years ago, before the advent of big quilt shows, I went to a comparatively small gallery quilt show. I never knew if the work was connected to one "school" of quilting or how it was sponsored and put together.

When I entered the first section, most of the quilts were copies of Baltimore Album Quilts. They were just perfect down to the last detail. I was in complete awe! THEN, I entered the hall and ALL the quilts on display had the same degree of perfection. By the time I came to the last quilt on display, I was thinking "this is a case of over obsession"! More recently I have noticed quite a bit more individuality and creativity but the attention to detail can still be seen and admired.

These quilts are from the "Traditional section of the Dome show. It is interesting to me that in addition to pattern choices, tradition still seems to mean "Hand piecing and Hand quilting"

 Take a look at the detail on this quilt by Hisako Murai, named Furu Furu.



Though the individual blocks are the same design, there is a variety of fabrics used, some even with text and different shades of background.


I have to add that in Japan, "traditional" also seems to mean "made and quilted by hand".
The quilting here must have taken hours and days.

Here is another detail ...

And I might add here, that with the crowds as they were, it was practically impossible to get pictures of whole quilts without heads and arms and elbows thrown in....

Flowers are Blooming, is by Toshii Naoi.

Again there is a variety of blue diamond pieces and color values in the flowers. The quilting is also superb. How could any judge pick a winner from just these two ? ,,, and there is more to come.

And this one ...loosely translated as
"Flowers Blowing in the Wind"
is by Sumie Kiyota.

Just look at the perfection in that quilted background!

 And here is still another...



a detail of "Fountain" by Junko Fujiwara.

Another item we saw in rather large numbers among these medallion designs was backgrounds that were shaded from center to borders.

We mused that there might be a quilt school that supplied this type of fabric because it was used in so many quilts.

How about this one?

A little different take on the background, but the same attention to detail.


"Looking up into Blue Skies"
is the work of Toyoko Nakajima.

I think this may have been shown on one of Queenie's posts,


"Work Number 11 for my Daughter"

by Kiyomi Deguichi.




(By and large the lighting was much better than the spotlights used at the Yokohama show but a few has shadows falling across)

Here is a detail of that same quilt.


Note the variety of fabrics selected and the stitching around the interlocking circles.

This "Pattern of Autumn"

is by Mitsuko Shimizu.



This effect of a graded background was all done by piecing little squares of assorted fabrics.

Imagine putting an applique over the top after going to all that trouble!

Another lovely quilt called "Reborn"

made by Yukiko Tanaka.



Each repeat of design, white on red or red on whits is so precisely done.

And that border work ... what a labor of love.

"Courtyard of a Maiden" is another of the medallion designs with shaded background.


This one is by Masako Kumakawa.


All that feathered quilting has to be see close up to be appreciated.

"Wishes for Roses" is another quilt using the shaded background but in a different configuration.


It is made by Yoko Masuda.


Note the feathered quilting on this one!

And, lest you think "traditional" means medallion patterns and flowers to Japanese quilters,

Here is a detail of a quilt called "PEKE" by Hiroe Omori.


I was attracted by the bright colors and variety of fabrics in this work.

The blocks also seemed to be quilted as individuals, each asking for something a bit different from it's neighbor.

Or how about tradition with a twist?

You get almost dizzy looking at this piece by Miyoko Takada.....

called Moment of Green,

And here is a detail of  "Kaleidoscope"

made by Misako Ohnizuka.

Even with all these busy prints, the design is not lost among the black and white alternate sections.

This must have been a fun quilt to make.
...and plenty of work.....

Another corner detail of an amazing piece of work by Megumi Yokoyama,

this one called "Ocean Story" is full of mariner's compasses appliques.

If you are a fan of Lucy Boston as I am, you will appreciate this wonderful rendition.


Though this show is given the word "International" in its title, there were very few quilts that I found that were not made by Japanese quilters.

This quilt was made by Suet-Fern Lee from Singapore.

Having made two quilts in this pattern, I can appreciate the work that went into this piecing.

Another detail I just have to share is this piece made by Kazuko Harada.

Called "Wind Time" she has used one of my favorite Japanese fabrics, Tosa tsumugi, a product of Shikoku which is becoming more and more rare, as it is woven by hand.

The loom is strung with one color, most frequently black, and the color stripes are woven across. I love the muted tones and can identify a number of fabric patterns I have used over the years.

I think this "Light and Shadow" quilt by Michio Arata was presented by all three of us.

It is also a stunning piece of work and I love the way she has managed to ues light on dark and dark on light.


Maybe a new twist on a traditional idea.


How on earth could the judges come up with three awards when every one of these quilts was a prize winner in its own right?





Here are those that were selected.

"Masterpiece of Bricklayer" (looks like it might be Tokyo Station) by Chizuru Naito. 3rd prize

"A Thought"        by Mihoko Taguchi          1st prize

And one more for the road, the second prize winner,  "A Twisted Spool" by Yoko Koizumi.

And, as a parting shot, a birthday girl!

12 years ago in May, my kids brought an orphan puppy home from Tochigi.

When I took her to the vet the next day to get a check-up and shots, the vet said she was about three months old. Counting backwards, that put her birthday on Valentines day.

No longer the skinny little pup, she is pampered and loved by her adopted parents (and over-loved by her Papa who thinks Love =food)!

And, for a dog that is afraid of fire,

she has become pretty cozy with the space-heater.

(Actually, when I picked up the camera, her nose was resting on the base of the heater)

Hope you winter climes people are keeping warm too.

Tokyo Dome part 3 ...a little WA

I guess the best translation of "Wa" would be "Harmony". I am not sure why, but these quilts are probably what we would think are typical Japanese quilts, often using indigos and more muted tones.

This quilt, roughly translated, " Auspicious Congratulations" is made by Yoshiko Uemura.


Not only the colors, but the noshime or strips of fabrics and the corner subjects call out their Japanese origins.

Check out Queenie's post that has great close-ups of the detail in this quilt.

This quilt photographed a lot lighter than the actual quilt.

The title had something to do with watching the moon through the forest and it was created by a quilter named Ms. Saito. One would have to be a good guesser to figure out her given name.




There are lots of tiny curved pieces in this quilt.

I have only shown a detail of this white-on-white quilt. It took second place in the Wa quilts and had a number of cranes in flight.

Titled"Fledgling", by Tomomi Ishii, it was a lovely piece of work but a little hard to see and even harder to photograph.

This was the third place winner in the Wa quilts.

Called roughly, "Re- Ring of Circulation" ,
it certainly contained an interesting combination of vintage and kimono fabrics. Maybe that made it a bit more Japanese.

Anyway, it was made by Ayako Takeguchi.

This one didn't get a prize but I rather liked it better than some that did.  It is "Morning Light of Matsushima" and made by Kumiko Nakamura.

This quilt called "Hour of the Blue" by Kuniko Hishinuma is more impressive for the amount of work that went into it than the total effect.

The border is a symphony of vintage indigo fabrics.

This quilt also was much darker than it appears in the picture.

I think my camera has a bad case of over-compensation and I couldn't figure out how to turn that aspect off but I thought this was quite a well-done piece.

Made by Chikako Furukawa, it is called "The Hour".

It had an interesting arrangement of traditional fabric hexagons  and must have taken quite a while to put together.

"Waiting for Spring"

by Akiko Uematsu

was also shown on Queenie's blog.

I think she showed some of the wonderful detail on this charming piece of work.












I think this beat out the prize winners too,

And another victim of my camera's decision-making is this "Remaining Fragrance"

created by Yukiko Fueta.






I took a close-up to see if the color would show better. At least you can picture the amount of work that went into this piece.

With this picture I will leave it to you to decide which deserves those prizes.

Do other quilt shows in other countries have such a category?

I can't think of something that would be typically American ... other than a quilt made of vintage feed sacks.

I think some of these quilters must have pondered a while as to which category to enter their work in.