Every other year, the Japan Handicraft Instructors' Association holds a quilt contest of a very high standard. There are three categories - Traditional, Contemporary and Miniatures quilts.
After application, screening and judgement, about 100 of the quilts are exhibited at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno Park. They will later be sent overseas, where they will be displayed at quilt festivals.
In 2024, I visited the exhibition and wrote about it here.
I made sure not to miss this year's exhibition and will show some of the quilts in a series of blog posts.
Here is the official poster:
The winner of the Traditional category was 分部秋子's impeccable masterpiece, measuring 205 x 205 cm.
Let's continue with the other traditional quilts.
西垣光子
There was a lot of Satin Stitch embroidery
阿部優美 also shows off her skills in this 'Tulip Plate'. A most suitable flower, as Tokyo is ablaze with tulips now.
Another very prominent flower right now is, of course, the CHERRY! Here it is in the shape of the Moon.
渡邊麗子
The material is kimono silk crêpe, chirimen, which is both slithery and stretchy. How you manage to collect all these pieces of pink and purple beats me!
If you want to study technical skills, have a look at this Circus quilt by 佐野美佐子.
There are masses of small Cathedral Window blocks, intricate appliqué, tiny quilting stitches, metallic fabric, braid and bias tape,
and a line of Chain Stitch that really looks like a golden chain.
浅野亜由美
宮村理恵子combines crazy quilting with panels of tiny Cross Stitch. I forgot to take a close-up photo.
白石千恵子made a Baltimore Album Quilt with crocheted details. Even the edge is hooked!
Isn't it amazing how straight these extremely complex quilts hang? I willingly take my hat off to Kyoto-based quilter 山田扶佐子 .
The interior decoration expression 'Shabby Chic' has reached Japan. But basically, isn't it a translation of 'Wabi-Sabi'? A quilt by 平林かずよ.
Here is a Double Wedding Ring, made by 大竹寧子, getting attention from my friend.
弘重夏子 must have planned very carefully to elongate the squares into gradually slimmer rhombuses. Then, to find a size that will house the parts perfectly around the circle.
I am sure any computer wizard can do it with a few clicks on the keyboard.
However, I suspect that many Japanese have been so well trained at maths that they can calculate this with paper and pencil and a sharp brain.
The title of the quilt, though, focuses on the bunnies - 'Rabbits' Dance'.
The title of 稲川節子's quilt is 'Billiards Bibler'. My friends and I had a long discussion about the meaning of this expression. We did not understand it. Later, I did a google search and found that 'bibler' could be:
1) slang for a heavy drinker, 2) someone who often quotes the Bible, 3) a student responsible for reading the Bible during meals, 4) Winchester (UK boarding school) College slang for a specific type of punishment involving six raps on the buttocks by a cane, 5) a surname of German origin.
Nothing seems to have anything to do with this quilt, or am I missing something?
If you have any ideas, please leave your thoughts in the Comments below.
That's it for today. There will be many more quilts in the next blog post.
