I have been able to work hard on my
Trinity Green
Fabric in Focus
This week I want to show you, what has become a VERY Japanese pattern. It is supposed to have originated in Egypt, though, and reached Japan via the Silk Route in the 7th century.
It is called 'karakusa moyou' 唐草模様 or Japanese Arabesque.
It is a typical pattern for the 'furoshiki', a cloth used to wrap up goods into a bundle, the ultimate eco bag.
In cartoons and comics, the thief is often illustrated sneeking away with the loot in a karakusa wrapping cloth. To make sure I will not be mistaken for a thief I have cut up the furoshiki and used it in Trinity Green, ha, ha!!!
H C
More rough quilting on the black inked lines.
Have you had a productive week?
24 comments:
The arabesque fabric is lovely, so much movement, ideal for the thief running away!! Your triangles, how many shades of green there are! I am being particularly productive this week, under immense pressure! I am making a quilt for Sara and Emma who get married a week today, I am hand quilting it. I have time but my fingers are so bruised and blooded that I can only stitch for short periods of time. At least I will be able to share it in a blog post when I hand it over next week, at the moment it is secret except they know it is orange.
Good progress indeed. I love the Japanese arabesque fabric. the story is also interesting. Eco bag! great idea. work on quilt looks very nice.
The cat with the head scarf made me laugh [on the link]. I have had a productive week..art, applique and log cabin quilt blocks and even a bit of gardening.
Your steady progress is putting some of us to shame! Looking forward to seeing the finished items. Also, thank you for sharing the link to omamori this week--lots of cool info.
The green triangles are certainly multiplying, beautiful arabesque fabric. I have been productive this week, trying to get 3 projects started, completed and on the go. I have to make 16 postcards for a swap, borders for a quilt and a 2nd challenge piece started on Gondwala. I am fascinated as to what your HC is????....oh, and also more squares knitted for a rug.
Congratulations! An orange wedding quilt, may I guess that you have used the Double Wedding Ring pattern? Give your poor fingers a rest from time to time.
Arabesque designs are found in so many cultures; it is interesting to read the background and fascinating to see how trade and the caravans on the Silk Route spread the style. It is also an easy design to draw and quite relaxing to just let the pen scribble.
Yes, taking home the shopping in your own bag has now become the norm in Japan. In the past the furoshiki was the most flexible 'bag', and it is still very popular. Especially as there are so many beautiful designs.
Dressing up cats for photo shoots has been popular for a long time. Now dressing up dogs and pushing them along in 'baby strollers' is a common sight (unfortunately in my opinion). During the rainy seasosn you can see some dogs in Wellingtons!!!
Good to hear you have been busy.
The GREEN triangles are breeding like the GREEN mould of the rainy season. Maybe I don't need to do any sewing at all, just let the triangles grow by themselves in the heat!
You certainly have your full share of work. It will keep you warm in your wintery weather!
Sorry, I won't tell you what the HC stands for or is until later...
good to read you were able to get plenty of stitching time this week so many triangles made now, liking the cloth and they will make great additional triangles for you, quilting coming along well too
Really lovely arabesque design and fabric. Are the pieces of fabric hemmed in which Japanese wrap their gifts or is it just a piece of fabric how it is sold?
Thank you for your positive feedback. This week the heat and humidity is overpowering and I might not be able to reach my set targets...
The 'furoshiki' is a square cloth and can be any size from a handkerchief to a king size bed sheet. The larger ones are for wrapping bed mattresses or cover furniture. The ones similar in size to a lady's head scarf are used to wrap around bundles of paper (if purple, often used by lawyers), out of season clothing, quilting stash (in my case), and of course shopping. It is customery to wrap a gift box of confectionary when visiting someone's home; the furoshiki is discreetely removed and taken home (eco friendly wrapping!). It is also THE cover for a lunch box. Before eating you spread the cloth on the office desk or your lap as a place mat. Any spills are soaked up by the cloth. The material can be silk, polyester, non-woven or even plastic, but the most common is cotton. They are hemmed.
More to read can be found here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furoshiki
I have made a quilting template of the karakusa design and used it often for background quilting. It can be repeated of turned in the best way to fill odd background shapes so it is one of my favorites. If you want more green, I've got a ton I could give you without chopping up a useful furoshiki.
Yes it is an excellent quilt pattern, especially for filling difficult spaces, (or indeed embroidery design), but you do need to change the direction of the quilt all the time.
A nice fabric and an interesting story to go with it!
Hi Queenie, I like your 'fabric in focus' info. Good progress and stitching.
I wish I knew more about many of my pieces of fabric in the stash. Some have a 'background', a personal history or are known to almost all, others are so anonymous.
I try to recall the history or background of as many pieces of fabric as possible, but alas far too many are just 'questions marks'.
Amazing! I love seeing your progress with these triangles.
Love all those green fabrics and their stories.
I think it must be boring for my readers to see yet another set of paper strips with triangles, but I can't turn them into a quilt until I have made all.
There are so manuy pieces of whose story I know nothing, unfortunately.
Wow! More than 2,500 triangles. You are amazing! I love the swirls in the green fabric. Beautiful. My week has not been horribly productive craft-wise, but I have managed a bit of decluttering in my home.
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