Thursday 29 January 2015

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival - 5 Building quilt scenes

NHK (Nippon Housou Kyoukai), the state run public broadcasting organisation of Japan, that is the main organiser of this big quilt event, are good at building quilt scenes. Maybe because they produce a lot of high quality drama series, they can whip up the Moomin house (last year), and before that, an Amish house, Anne of Green Gables' room, orchards with patchwork apple trees, Alice in Wonderland's tea party..., among many things.

This year was no exception. The theme was The House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I hope you have already looked at Tanya's blog post with a picture of the quilted wagon; if not, check it out here.

Notice the props.
The grass and flowers, the plums on the tree - made of fabric by quilt teacher Reiko Washizawa and her team of volunteers.

There was also the family's log cabin built by NHK,
and decorated by Yoko Saito and her team.

Then there was the general store. Suzuko Koseki and her followers had filled it with lovely goods.
 Even outside on the porch there were some chairs and a table. A felted tin of lobster held a single 'cotton' flower.

I know of no other quilt show where a whole scene is built up like this. Do you?

There were also a number of quilts depicting some scenes of Laura Ingalls Wilder's stories.

Family's Pleasant Time
志村恒子*Tsuneko Shimura

 The Very First Day of School
寺井ちなみ*Chinami Terai

I hope you have enjoyed US pioneer scenery in a Japanese baseball stadium!

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

wonderful details the quilt show.. Thanks for sharing them

Annet said...

I've never seen anything like this in a quiltshow,it looks gorgous. Stunning pieces, thanks for sharing.

Queeniepatch said...

How popular is quilting in India? Are there any shows?

Queeniepatch said...

Unusual and well made, I would say, but boy, what a lot of work for those teachers and their students.

Janie said...

How wonderful! Such fun detail. In reading Japanese quilting magazines I have noticed they have a fascination for Laura Wilder's books. I do love her books too, and read them to my kids as they were growing up. Thanks so much for sharing, Queenie.

https://linsartyblobs.blogspot.com said...

Fun scenery items, lots to look at! I have been to a show where everything in a themed area was knitted.

J Honda said...

oh yes this is such a joy Queen! Tanya's write up is wonderful too - the Lobster can with the single flower :D the entire scene is beautiful - what incredible, incredible work. Each post reveals more and more of the Quiltshow. Just pondering the work that goes into the putting together of the charity quilts alone - then quilting, the sending of postcards, etc...all the planning and work gone into the execution of this Little House on the Prairie scene ...and these are just parts of the entire festival. wow.

crazyQstitcher said...

I'd say the quilt show is unique with such a creative setting. The quilts are all fantastic and so many to stop and investigate for their techniques and beauty.
I'm glad you posted them. Thank you.

Stitching Lady said...

This is absolutely unique - it is so beautiful to see. Great work done with much love.

Pippas quilts said...

Beautiful wagon and the interior of the cabin is brilliant.

Pamela said...

Thanks for sharing! It's all so amazing.

Queeniepatch said...

Isn't it all beautifully made!

Queeniepatch said...

The televised version of Laura's books has been highly popular and when quilting first became a new fad, many quilts must have been made in the pioneer spirit, with log cabins and stars.

Queeniepatch said...

There was (is) something called yarn bombing, where public things (railings, lamp posts...) were covered in crochet or knitting. This trend has not hit Japan yet, but many private homes of quilters are quilt bombed. Everything gets a quilted cover, the tissue paper box, the bread basket, the PET bottle, the iPad (one friend's son told his mother that she had made a tea cosy for the most advanced piece of home computer ever!!)

Queeniepatch said...

Felting, and using felt for craft is another popular trend here, so that explains the lobster can.
The Japanese are highly efficient and there is a whole organisation behind the Partnership quilts. The blocks are numbered and divided into groups (pink background, lollipops, Christmas fabric, animals eating sweets/snacks... So some quilts are themed, others have the same block (made by members of the same quilt circle?), some have a border of the same colour/block. Then there are some quilts that look as if they hold the blocks that don't fit in anywhere...
Then, as you say, there is the administration, the postcards, the name plaques and dealing with those who have misjudge the size, not entered their names or sent in more than one block...

Queeniepatch said...

I'm glad if you are not fed up yet, there are more photos to post!

Queeniepatch said...

You are right, this wouldn't have been created if we didn't have the 'love of quilting'.

Anonymous said...

A brilliant display, is it based on the TV series little house on the prairie that I used to watch many years ago? Everything at the show looks fantastic!

Séverine said...

I have never seen such a quilt show, it's stunning!

Queeniepatch said...

It was fantastic, almost like the Sapporo snow festival!

Queeniepatch said...

Yes, well, based on the books that the TV series was based on.

Queeniepatch said...

I think it is quite unusual in many ways, the size, the variety, the displays...

Renee said...

Wow! Absolutely amazing. I love the wagon. And the cabin is filled with so much quilted charm. Even the general store is fantastic. I particularly like the last two quilts. Thank you for sharing! What an amazing event.

Queeniepatch said...

I think this display was very well made. I had to stay till the very end of the day to be able to take decent photographs - there were always so many people around.

carorose said...

Lots of great ideas here. What beautiful work?

Queeniepatch said...

This year the display area was larger than usual, and very impressive.