Yokohama Quilt Festival #3

One category of the quilt contest was "Original".

Looking through these, I have a hard time figuring out the difference between these and the "Traditional" quilts. I am also wondering if there was a theme of flowers behind the contest, as certainly there were more flowers than anything else.

A number of those in this category were small and medium wall hangings. This one was made by Akemi Tajima.

Another hanging by Yukiko Ishizuka.

A medium sized hanging by Noriko Endo

A full sized quilt entitled "Dog Garden", by Ritsuko Shino.

Entitled "For You Arigato" (Thank You) by Yoshiko Sakai.

Roughly translated, "Flower Field" by Tomoko Kawahake.

Kazuko Yamada has put a lot of detail and quilting stitches into this one!

a close-up view...

Teruko Ono made this one.

Another small hanging by Fumiko Kitabatake, entitled "Gift".

This hydrangea hanging I photographed with the sign because it was small,

but now the writing is too small for me to read.

And the last one seems to have one some kind of prize...

I think the name is Etsuko Iitaka.

It was hard enough to grab a photo of the whole thing without heads and elbows and shoulders included, as there were many people checking out the details.

Lots of tiny applique in this quilt!

Most of my pictures subjects were hand-work, both stitching and quilting, so I may have missed a few. Hope you found some inspiration here. I know I did.

I think I need a change of plans

Thinking that with all these square blocks, the border needed something curvy like feathers, I looked through my templates. Of course, there was nothing that would work on a four-inch strip ...
... so, I drafted out a pattern and cut a template from plastic.
The plan was, to start in the corners and work to the center of each border.

After quilting  the first corner, I am thinking a whole border of feathers would be a big waste of time.
This batik is better than camouflage for hiding stitches.

I think I may go back to my stencil collection and join the corner feathers with a cable ... maybe putting one of these feather designs at the center of each side ... if the cables don't link up neatly.
I sure don't want to start un-stitching what is already in place.

The next four days are going to be super-busy with a juggling of schedules ... scouting stuff ... school stuff ... choir stuff ... and feeding these silkworms who managed to gobble up a dozen large leaves by the time I had finished my first cup of coffee.
I read all the busy stuff my blogging friends are getting done and wonder how they do it! Am I missing something?

Yokohama Quilt Festival #2

One section of the show exhibited contest quilts. Here are a few of those in the "Traditional" category that attracted my attention.

Titled, "Bara no Kuni" Rose country,  made by Sanae Kobayashi

Made by Shigemi Furuta

"Hana" (Flowers) by Yasuko Goto

"Hana no Sonnet" by Yoshie Mizukoshi

by Fusa Nomura

Another flower theme quilt. This one by Yoshiko Taniguchi

"Flower Star" This is an amazing combination of different blocks, made by Toshiko Nakamura.

"Hana no Kazeguruma" or Flower Pinwheel, by Reiko Hatakeyama.

Another flower sampler, this one by Kayomi Tamai.

Spring symphony ... by Harumi Asada

"Hexagon no Naka de" (Inside the hexagon)  by Yoko Ozaki

Flowers seemed to be a big part of many "traditional" quilts.

Life has been getting busier and busier with only a few rows of quilting getting done from time to time.

On Sunday I will attend a special Court of Honor, to be held at the U.S. Ambassador's residence.

One of the Scouts receiving his Eagle rank is one of my former cub scouts, so I carved him a wooden eagle neckerchief slide to celebrate.

After writing a note to go with it, I looked around for a small box to put it in ...

but the last box I had went a week ago with a slide carved for my younger sister's grandson who had met the"Cubmaster's Challenge" by completing his final Arrow of Light award, doing every requirement in the book.

Then, I recalled some fabric that came to me from my Blogging friend, Cheryl. What better than a fancy pouch with scouting symbols to hold the gift? Thank You, friend!

Quilt Festival Yokohama #1

After  a three year break, the quilt show in Yokohama has returned.

I have attended this show since it's beginning, and was very sad when the event was ended. 

At my small group meeting, Yasuko Kuraishi, who is a quilt teacher, told me the show was returning, and because one of her quilts would be on display, she was given two tickets ... if I would like to go with her.

Well, silly question. Of course I was glad to hear of the show's return and eager to snatch up the opportunity.

We met at the gate at 11:00 am.

The crowds were packed in front of the displays and getting pictures was a challenge, as spaces were narrow ... and with the fine work, everyone was examining from close-up.

We headed to the first section where Sensei's quilt was visible from the entrance. I was able to get a blurry picture of her in front of her paper-pieced flower garden. Kuraishi-sensei considers herself a "minimalist" but there is a certain charm in the variety of those paper-pieced flowers.

 

In spite of the crowds, we worked our way through the 60 quilts by the 60 well-known quilt teachers.

Some were marked with no photo, but most allowed pictures to be taken.

Thankfully, all were marked with the quilter's name in English.

This one is titled "Little Adventures of Sue and Billy".

all handwork by 

Reiko Kato

This quilt by Hiromi Kawashima represents scenes and icons of the town of Yokohama.

I am not very good at figuring out the quilter's comments, but there is something about the 1853 arrival of Perry to Yokohama and the scenes illustrated in the quilt.

The focus of this quilt, 

made by Setsuko Obi in 2007,

is the gradation of color.

Most of the photos I took were of quilts that were done by hand, and I found hand work to be in the majority 

among these well-known quilters.

The title was - KAGUHASHI

I am not familiar with that word but this quilt

was made by Yoshiko Katagiri.

Interesting black on black applique and lots of motion.

This small collection of doll-house items, reminded me of my own childhood.

The biggest thing in my young life was my doll family and doll houses. My early sewing was all stuff for my dolls, who were my best friends.

This set of rooms is by Hiroko Akita.

The title, Red Hair Ann must refer to the well-known story book of Ann of Green Gables.

This is all I could get of this lovely work.

Yuriko Arioka gave it the name of the beginning of Autumn. (or it is about to become Autumn).

The tiny piecing and applique, as well as the limited colors, give this quilt a peaceful feeling.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the whole quilt but this is a basic all over design.

This quilt by Keiko Akita represents flowers on an apple tree.

The description is about apple trees and Aomori where many of the best apples come from.

From time to time I see quilts in the shape of kimono.

Judging from the roll at the bottom, it may be a wedding quilt.

It was made by Eiko Okano

and seems to have included kimono fabric blocks.

Something about the red flowers being congratulatory.

(I really miss having in-house translators).

I saw a lot of viewers touching quilts which is usually a big no-no at shows I have been to.

There were people in gloves who could help those who wished to view the reverse sides of the quilts....

(If you could find them among the crowds)

Another flower quilt ...

This one by Michiko Shima.

The "Japanese Taupe" fabrics seem to have become popular with a number of quilters.

These dahlias were quilted by

Chizuko Takashita.

 There are a lot of white flowers with many petals appliqued on these little squares.

Hiroko Ninagawa put a lot of detail into this quilt.

even the quilting in the borders are full of detail.

Titled in English, "Cross Flower"

this is a take on the Lucy Boston pieces that I have done twice,

This one is not fussy cut but uses the colored prints in repeats. 

Atsuko Matsuyama used much larger lozenge-shaped hexagons than I have seen before and limited the variety of color. The border frames it quite nicely.

I had to go back later to get this picture of a large detailed quilt by 

Noriko Masui.

I was glad to get a picture without so many viewers crammed in front looking closely at every detail.

There was a long description about the choice of a title for this quilt.

" Itsu demo koko kara ...

A lot of geese flying over a pond full of waterlilies....

and a lot of echo quilting.

(Also a lot of light on those pale fabrics washes out some of the beauty).

"Tyrollean Tulips"

by Yasuko Yubisui

The rows of little girls between the rows of pieced tulips have been appliqued in place.

A nice colorful addition to the exhibit...

By Yoneko Maruya

Something about water and Lorelei

.

"Joyful Flowers"

By Masako Wakayama

And, last of all, a quilt I had to return later to photograph...

This is by Akemi Shibata

and seems to include a variety of blocks both in the center and set on point in the borders, and different styles including Hawaiian applique and a Baltimore album block.

It was interestingly set with prints of numbers and Japanese kana.

I guess this is a lot for one post, but I still have more saved for a later number of posts. The show was only three days long ... which may be why it was so packed with people even on the last day. Perhaps it was a trial run for the return of the week-long show.

Each quilt was lit with one spotlight, with a variety of results depending on the quilt, but better than the strange shadows across the quilts that is seen at the Dome show. Of the 60 quilters represented, some were no pictures and I tended to leave out the fused raw-edge machine applique, so these are more to my hand-made taste.

Slow but steady

Getting tired of seeing this quilt?  Well, the center area has all been quilted in the ditch, and today I moved to the inner border. I haven't decided a quilting design for the wider border as yet, but am thinking of something feathered. With all those square blocks, I think it needs something with softer lines.

Norie came by on Tuesday with a big supply of mulberry leaves, harvested from her neighborhood.

With the supply piled high on their heads, the silkworms ate huge amounts, took another break and have now started their fourth instar.
I think this is the fastest progress I have ever seen in years of keeping these critters.
At least I don't have to worry about feeding them for the rest of the week.






This week has been a bit cooler, and the rainy season is predicted soon.
If I were blind, I think I could still find my front gate by smell alone.

In February it was the blooming plum. Then it was followed by the Sweet Daphne.

After sending out a few test blooms earlier in the week, the Gardenia has burst forth in bloom.

My neighbor's hydrangea is a big mountain of blue, and my little one in a pot is blooming for the first time in many years.

The lilies are getting ready for a master performance with a huge bunch of buds at the top of a six-foot stalk.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to a quilt show.
Hopefully, at this one, the names of the quilters will be added in English as well as Japanese.

Counting the days

It seems my days are being counted by how many leaves I have to pick on my morning walks with Nikko.


On Monday when I went off to school with the silkworms in tow, they were in their second resting stage.

The schedule is, they eat, eat. eat, then they take a break, shed their old skin, and start eating again ... bigger bodies and bigger bites.

Now it is Friday and they are on their third resting break. From tonight the leaves will be going faster.  Luckily, on last weekend's campout, I picked lots of mulberry leaves and brought them home, washed them and laid them out between layers of paper towels. Then the pile of damp towels and leaves went into a large zipper bag and into the vegetable drawer of the fridge. I am still picking leaves on morning walks and keeping those larger leaves for future meals. The two big trees in Harapa-park were cut down last fall. The big tree on the way to the station was cut down this spring, and the big one at the end of the street, during the winter. The one medium tree that grew between the wall and my neighbor's house was also removed, and another next to the weed lot was chopped off just a few weeks ago. I am now relying on stuff growing from the roots of several cut trees, so glad I have some saved in the drawer.

Norie lives in a place with natural woods and lots of trees and she will bring a few more leaves when we next meet.
The camp turned out fine. The predicted rain fell on Friday night before most of the scout families arrived and so the weather was cool and nice. The events were fun and the crafts went well, as I arrived Friday afternoon and had time to arrange the space and set out the leatherworking tools.

Saturday night I returned home as Sunday was Pentecost and the choir was due to sing.

Being a congregation of people from all over the world, we were asked to come in native costume. Oh, what a grand display ... and the bible reading was made in 25 different languages during the second service, (21 at the first) and there was a display in the lobby of Bibles in many different languages.
It was an opportunity for me to dress in my native American regalia.

The most interesting thing I noted was a comparison between now and years ago. In those days, over 50 years ago, when I walked down the street, people I passed were pointing at me and exclaiming "foreigner" or "American"  in Japanese.
Sunday, I went all the way to church, dressed like this, and no one even stared in my direction, let alone commented.

The quilt is still moving through the hoop. Progress is being made and I am looking forward to finishing up the center so I can play with the border.

The cacti keep putting on a show from day to day.



The leak in the roof has been halted.

The hole in the floor remains, but that is the only way I have of checking for leaks.

When the heat of summer hits the roof, I do not know if the putty will dry out and crack again. I think the best solution might be a new roof that slants toward the gutter to be built over the current metal one. how or when or the cost is still to be planned out.

These little pink stars are sitting on a carpet square beside the hole in the floor.

Maybe they are happy to be there. ... but I am wishing their old table could come back to that corner and my other plants might return.

Well, like my days, everything moves slowly step by step ... though I might swear some of that time is running right past without even saying, "Boo".

I did bring home two little mulberry trees pulled up by the roots at camp, and planted them in pots. If they make it through the summer, I may have some trees in a few years.