Today the binding and the hanging sleeve were added and the quilt is now hanging in the stairway at the Early Learning Center. This pict...

The section around M3's dragon on my Dragon Vest chloesplace.blogspot.com/2007/05/dragon-vest-continues.html

On my third trip walking through the exhibit at Festival , I took pictures of some of the quilts that really grabbed me. It's a pretty ecle...

Today the binding and the hanging sleeve were added and the quilt is now hanging in the stairway at the Early Learning Center. This pict...

In my last post you saw flowers and animals on quilts. They featured on the bags as well as you will see in this post! Almost every quilt magazine or book published in Japan include instructions for a bag, and you can always spot a number of patchwork bags carried around at the show. This is therefore a popular category of the quilt contest. Taupe bags by 赤平昭子　Kazuko Akahira Colourful bag by 飯田奈緒美　Naomi Iida Dogs also made their appearance on the bags, these three won the quilter a ribbon. 横山幸美　Yukimi Yokoyama This was not found on a bag but on another popular category, wearable quilts: Made by Kim Su Jin (Korea) May I present the Best in Show? A pink Mt Fuji can be seen peeping through a mass of clouds. My guess is that the clouds are made up of cotton fabric for summer kimonos, aka yukata. 吉田寿恵　Kotoe Yoshida The winning quilt among the Traditional quilts was this red jewel in machine quilting. Who wouldn't want to have such a quilt as a bedcover in December? 池敬子　Keiko Ike A prize was also awarded to this Korean quilter The beautiful machine quilting/embroidery made this quilt look almost like a gigantic photograph. Chang Mi Sun (Korea) This quilt was made by 16 high school students - and maybe their teacher? As you can see Mt Fuji is popular with everyone, and cherry blossoms, and cats, and green tea ... These towers are not as high as Mt Fuji but cleverly made out of string and fusable web! 竹脇章子　Akiko Takewaki This quilt was also in the Contemporary category, and made out of unusual material, too - woven rags of indigo. 杉山美紀江　Mikie Sugiyama If there had been a Visitors' Choice, this stunning quilt would have got a high score. There were always crowds of people enjoying the beautiful sky and marvelling at the use of material. 島田清子　Kiyoko Shimada Like this man, I needed some time to see the 'point' of this quilt, called New York. The 'point' is of course that you can make a quilt of something you see every day as you open the door of your apartment. Check out the work put into making the wall paper, below. 森村悦子 Etsuko Morimura In my next blog post I will show you some of the Traditional quilts, as well as the ones with a Japanese theme.

Here is the last part in my series of reports from the 13th Tokyo International Great Quilt Show 2014. Of the many excellent exhibitions outside the contest, one features the work of Shizuko Kuroha. She is famous for seeing the potential in Japanese indigo, and creates fantastic quilts with depth, glow, sheen and lustre, in spite of using mainly blue indigo, with a sprinkling of black, white, brown or red. In this exhibition Japanese weaving technique was also shown: The white tread is painstakingly tied, dyed, tied and dyed resulting in a much controlled space dye. The posters that NHK produce are excellent - oh, how I wish I could read Japanese easily!!! The illustrations help a lot, though. They also had a TV screen with a film showing the different steps in dying, weaving and finally quilting. Ms Kuroha is often seen demonstrating her work; of course she is at the show every day and always encourages the crowd that gather around her table. Here is a link if you want to read more about her. Moomin Apart from the Swedish wool embroidery exhibition, NHK are celebrating another part of Northern Europe, Finland, and the wonderful world of Moomin. Tove Jansson, who wrote these children's stories was born 100 years ago. The illustrations in her books have charmed both children and adults the world over. One who has been spellbound by the charm is the Japanese quilter Yoko Saito. You might well know that she is famous for her taupe quilts. Together with her students and followers, she has made 50! quilts from the illustrations in the books. Yoko Saito made these dolls. As well as this winter landscape. Her quilt was used for the official poster of the show, and then there is the 5m!!! long quilt seen on Tanya's blog. (I had no chance to take a picture of the quilt). Here are some of the other quilt copies, made by Ms Saito's students: Sachiko Tanenaka Noriko Mukai 小出保子 Aren't they just great? NHK's carpenter contributed with the Moomin House. Quilts made by 60 of Japans top quilters There is such a variety of quilt styles in Japan. Many prefer a traditional style and have excelled in making meticulous copies of Baltimore Album quilts, scrappy quilts from reproduction 30s fabric or fabulously rich crazy quilts. Others have devoted their efforts to Wa quilts, Mola, Hawaiian. Year, by year, however, we see more individuality and thinking outside the box. Here are some examples from the top quilters of Japan. Wonderful Small Flowers of Japan by Fumiko Miura Inspired by Japanese embroidery, wouldn't you say? Detail from Needleworks of the 1920s by Sanae Kono Peaceful Scenery in Spring Mist by Toshie Yamagata This pale indigo quilt shone like silver! Bubbles and Vortexes by Keiko Takahashi She is famous for her colourful quilts. The sparkle in these come from the metallic thread. Hearts are Linked by Sachiko Yoshida There is a fantastic collection of antique kimono silk in this quilt. I can't imagine how large Ms Yoshida's stash is or where she has found some of the very unusual colours like lime green or aqua. The dots are all joined with chain stitches. The title refers to how the hearts of the people of Fukushima are joined, although many, many residents are still living far from their home towns. A Flight by Fumiko Nakayama, the Queen of Mola. Flowers in a Red Room by Keiko Miyauchi, the Queen of appliqué. Detail from The Hidden Lake by Hiroko Koike Spring Midnight by Yoko Sekita Have you ever seen the Japanese Hina dolls for Girls' Day? They sit formally on tiers. During the day, that is. At midnight the all get up to party!!! Stories of Ties by Machiko Miyatani At a Café - my 'Ecole de Paris' - by Yoshiko Kuriha Maybe at a cafe in Monmartre you would see these Amedeo Modigliani models? With this quilt I end my report on the 13th Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival.

Here is where I left off last week, with a few pretty good ideas about the direction I would go on this quilt. I did a few more sketches on the plexiglas before I felt ready to start quilting. If you are here for the first time, I use plexiglas to audition different designs on a quilt top without having to commit to anything. See this post and this one for my process with the plexiglas. This is not a marking tool, it is a drawing tool I use to develop a pleasing composition and it sure beats the sit and stare that I am also quite proficient at. I ended up quilting a combination of straight lines, swirls, mazes and in the sashing a traditional orange peel treatment and some circles. I used the fabric to dictate a lot of the quilting within the panel. Straight lines work to add texture and movement without distorting the images. I always love adding some windy sky when I have the opportunity. I followed the bamboo leaves with my stitching to accentuate the designs in the fabric. I used a series of mazes to fill in the borders and I did change thread to ivory to quilt the small sashing and the other light areas. I love mimicking the Japanese motifs and adding straight line work to offset the designs. Here is a close up of the different sashing and border treatments, this was quilted entirely freehand. I think the finished quilt came out well and the quilting enhanced the quilt adding interest but not distracting from everything that is going on. As quilters our biggest challenge is finding that balance in quilting that adds to the pieced top without overwhelming it, quilting "enough" but not too much. Balance is golden. In other exciting news, I managed to steal away some time for myself and took a class from one of my good friends and local teachers, Katie, who blogs at Sewkatiedid. Her color, aesthetic and overall sense of design always inspire me and after my husband seemed to like her pillows better than mine when we were at their house for dinner I decided I needed to up my game in the pillow department. I love how Katie uses painters tape on her design wall to back into her designs and define the space for herself. These were some of her examples and step outs for the gradual curves class that I took. Here is what I completed in the 3 hour class, which went by way too fast! As an educator, I am finding that one of the best ways to be a better teacher is to continue taking classes as an open minded student. I have a lot of thoughts on this but can't seem to put them into words. It kind of goes back to the miracle of sharing, it really does all come full circle. I played with my curves a bit more and hopefully once I get my studio cleaned I will finish this pillow! My studio was clean for a total of 23 seconds before I decided it needed a total overhaul. I am adding two design walls and getting rid of a LOT of stuff. Right now it just looks like it threw up all over itself and no one wants to see that. Hopefully I will make some progress this week and come up with some brilliant functional work space ideas in my very cramped space. Clearly, I have my work cut out for me. It is good to be looking forward towards a renewed studio space that flows better. I'm excited for the prospect of having more time to focus on my own work as I wind down quilting for others. Finding the balance really is a beautiful thing. I hope you have a superb week ahead and find some balance in your life too.

Foundation pieced peace quilt by #margaretrolfe Another stunner. Margaret said she started this in 2003 putting all her hope into each block that we wouldn't go to war.

Pieced by Pat Collins. Quilted by Jessica's Quilting Studio

There were so many wonderful quilts shown at the quilt festival, it is hard to know where to start. So I thought I would begin with the show winners and category winners. I will look at each category, one by one, in future posts. Photos of the quilt labels are included, and I think the makers' names are written in romaji on these, even if the quilt titles aren't. As usual, click to zoom in on the photos to see more detail. I had to wait until very late in the day to be able to get photos of the main show winners, without the crowds. The winners are also listed here. The categories are - Traditional quilt Original Design quilt Wa quilt (Japanese theme) Bag quilt Framed quilt　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 Junior (we missed this one) I have no idea about the judging system, whether it is a points based system like Festival of Quilts, or a juried system. The first place quilt must have been an entry in the 'Wa' (Japanese-themed quilts) category I think. It was pieced from tiny scraps of very old Japanese indigo fabrics. The quilt that won second place had the most amazingly detailed piecing. The category winners - Original Design. Framed quilt - 'Wa' category - The second prize winner in 'Wa' was one of the few wholecloths in the show and used trapunto. Looks like I didn't get a good photo of the third prize winner in 'Traditional', only the one on the far right. I didn't get a photo of the bag winners, but I'll see if anyone else did. More photos coming soon. You can make up your own mind then about whether the judges made the right choices or not. There were so many fantastic pieces, it must have been a hard decision.

I've found my free time again. To ease myself back into sewing I've started a new, relatively simple, paper pieced wall hanging. I do intend to finish my Mini Wedding Ring , perhaps working on these two projects simultaneously. I've had the fabric for this project laying about for some time, what t

We met in Kuroha sensei’s shop, Nuno Space, hidden away in the Tokyo suburb of Chiba. The shop is tiny and we sat at a table in the middle of it, sipping green tea for an hour or two before s…

Today the binding and the hanging sleeve were added and the quilt is now hanging in the stairway at the Early Learning Center. This pict...

Before ...and after ~Jenny~

Here are some projects coming out of my own studio recently. First off, I'm doing a Gypsy Wife sew along with two groups. I'm making the blocks in the order that they appear in the book, using Japanese fabrics. Here are the 10 blocks I have so far: Last Saturday I joined a class at The Quilting Grounds in Norwood Young America, and made a barn quilt! I did a Bear Paw block, which is the logo I use for my quilting business. I had to do a lot of "fussy taping" for my block. Also, the teacher told us that the colors red and yellow both need extra coats of paint to get good coverage, so I did 4 coats of each of those colors. We worked from 8:30 to 3:30. There were only 2 items we had to bring for the class: a 6" X 24" ruler and a hairdryer. Here's my finished barn quilt! It's 24" square. There were 8 of us in the class. It was fun to see the variety of barn quilts that were made! Also pictured here is the paint and rollers that we used in class. I also made these Sidewinder pouches from the Minikins collection. I made sizes small, medium and large. Fabrics by Tula Pink. I used "pleather" for the handles. You can see an entire parade of Sidewinder pouches at Sara's blog, here. I added my own photo, also, #41. I've been working intensely on Bonnie Hunter's "Talkin' Turkey" quilt pattern for a few months now. I finally got it on my longarm this week! This quilt is a scrapbook of my 38 years of quilting: old & new, traditional & modern, American & Japanese fabrics. It's going to hang at the Minnesota Quilters quilt show in St. Cloud in June, in the special exhibits section: Red & White Quilts for the ruby (40th) anniversary of Minnesota Quilters. What are you working on? Grace & peace!!! ~Nancy Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Busy Hands Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Friday Foto Fun, Oh Scrap, Cooking Up Quilts, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers, Needle & Thread Thursday.

A blog featuring the work of Korean bojagi artist, Youngmin Lee

I finally got around to making something with one of Michael Strong's new Kimono die that he released in March. It's not that I didn't love it but time just kept flying by. Michael's iris folding pattern is super simple to follow and the only thing I added was a red ribbon to the belt area.

Print version available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/588055096/mini-kimono-applique-pattern-print This digital download PDF pattern shows step by step written instructions and photos of how to make this fun mini kimono wall hanging (or quilt panel, or whatever you'd like to make with it). Instructions are simple enough for a beginner or intermediate stitcher and can be adapted to all sorts of uses. This pattern can be sewn by hand or using a sewing machine and involves applique. If you're intimidated by applique (I was!), rest assured this can be as complex or simple as you like. Top stitch, blind stitch, or just machine stitch the pieces down. Use new or vintage fabrics, all you need are 6 inch squares! Vintage Japanese fabric squares available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/245196217/65-inch-squares-vintage-japanese-kasuri If you have any questions please contact me so I may help. If you need a part explained or clarified, I'm happy to work with you to make this a fun experience. Learn more at theardentthread.com and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube @kimonomomo.

Le livre de Yoko Saïto, "156 blocs", est passionnant ! Il invite au travail ! Blogué ici : lefilamailce.blogs.marieclaireidees.com/

Can you tell that I'm exited? This is why You might recall the quilt I've made for this year's Singapore Quilt Challenge. My Chinese Lantern received the most votes, can you believe it? I am tickled pink! Look at the prizes; lots of Ruby goodness as well as coordinated solid fabric and Aurifil thread. But that's not all. I also received a couple of vouchers from a local quilt shop. How lucky am I??? And here are some of the other entries! All very nice, don't you agree? Now I'm going to play with my new fabrics and start planning what to do with them! Cheers Vreni

This pattern is called Grandmother’s Fan, and this quilt was passed down to me from the other side of my family, my father’s side. This was pieced and quilted by his maternal grandmother, and it’s been astonishingly well preserved. I think my grandmother, her daughter, kept it

In this last post about the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2016 I will show an odd selection of pictures. First is a detail of one of the framed quilts: 'From now on, enjoy' by Kayoko Kubo＊「これから楽しみ」久保佳代子 ........... This was my absolute favourite: 'A gentle moment' by Ms Itoh (whose first name is read in either of these ways: Hiroko, Sachiko, Yoshiko or Masako, I think)＊「優しいひととき」伊藤祐子 Isn't the quilt design just perfect? Here is a quilt I liked, with the moon reflected in water: made by Chizuko Takiyama＊「水画(みなもも)の月」瀧山千津子 ............. As you can see, this is not a quilt. It is paper poster for a 'poster quilt', featuring none other than Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit. So why does it say 'poster quilt' and Yoko Saito? Well, Yoko Saito and her group so successfully made the Moomin quilts two years ago. This year they took up the challenge of making quilts for 'The World of Peter Rabbit' to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Ms Potter's birth. Yoko Saito, herself, made this quilt: and it was featured on the official poster for the quilt show Pretty good, don't you think? To see more quilts from Beatix Potter's designs, check out Michelle Hill's report. .............. I end this report with a quilt called 'Kiitos' by Chikako Ueno＊上野知佳子 Kiitos is Finnish and means Thank you. Chikako Ueno is a master quilter and apart from wall quilts makes beautiful bags (you can see one on the floor). She is a friend of my friend Julie, and told me she got the Finnish Marimekko fabric used in this wall quilt from a friend in Finland. Talking of friends, Tanya made me this beautiful tatted bookmark. Kiitos, Tanya! So on this note of friendship I leave you with a big 'Kiitos' for reading my report. PS. Tanya has just posted lots of beautiful photos of Log Cabin quilts. Don't miss them!

Blog sobre Costura Creativa, Patchwork y quilts con tutoriales.

Ágnes Herczeg is a Hungarian artist who has fallen in love with laces. She creates nostalgic and delicate images attached to pieces of branches. Her works are inspired by nature and emphasize the relationship between people and wildlife. #1 Doubling the yarn #2 Openwork head of plants #3 Lovers #4 A woman wrapped with a […]

In my last post, I wrote about our introduction to the exciting art of Orinuno Quilting from Lisbet Borggren. Here we all are, very much engrossed in Lisbet's instructions on how to construct our cardboard templates with a compass! Tying our gathered fabric circles around the templates. The more fingers here, the better!! In the middle of the circles, you place your piece of batting and fabric, cut from a square template, and fold\iron the curved edges over. If you've done it right, all the corners should be nice and even!! Then, you quilt around the edges. Here's the back side of some of our first blocks! And the front sides, too!! So interesting how they can be so different! And here's Lisbet's own sample of a table-cloth she constructed using circle templates combined with triangles instead of the squares we used. Lots of different variations on this technique! Feel free to check out my Picasa album for more pics from Lisbet's course. If you're interested in trying this form of quilting, these two books by Sachiyo Muraki are really great. They're written in Japanese, but the pictures and measurements are quite clear! Enjoy your Saturday evening!! All the best! Mary Ann

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking part in a Japanese Kaleidoscope Quilt class with internationally renowned quilter/textile artist Jan Preston. It was arranged by Leanne of Kimono House (ther…

A pojagi (noun) is a wrapping cloth, but it also refers to a whole collection of sewing techniques by both hand and machine.

Explore Tom Russell Quilts' 2798 photos on Flickr!

My friend Di from Quiltitis visited last week for a quilting day. She arrived with her gorgeous new Pfaff machine and some finished quilt tops to show off. Last year on Craft Retreat she was working on these blocks with Australian floral fabric. Now the top is finished ready to sandwich and quilt. Isn’t it...Read More »

Explore Mellicious' 3104 photos on Flickr!