I have a finish today - the last out of five bookmarks was completed.
Bookmark
Yes, I made a bookmark for each of a group of five friends. The last bookmark is now completed and winging its way across the Globe. I will show you only the felt-covered back today and the full embroidery once the bookmark has reached the recipient.
Hexablooms
I cut some more squares and I basted some other squares over hexagon cards.
I attached more blocks to the flimsy. If I have counted correctly, there are now 226 hexablooms on the quilt.
Sunday Stitch School Indigo Stitch Sampler
For Stitch #345 Barred Buttonhole Wheel, I fastened a real button and a piece of round felt.
Last week, I reported on the quilts I saw at the 9th Quilts Japan Contest Exhibition. Today, I will introduce the other category of the contest, bags.
I have often wondered why bags are such a popular type of quilting in Japan. Believe me, at a quilt show or contest, there is almost always a section for bags. Could it be that Japanese ladies love bags? Could it be that a bag is smaller than a bed-size quilt and therefore easier to work on if you live in a cramped Japanese house?
Be that as it may, here are some of the bags:
上野知佳子
My friend, Chikako Ueno, is a quilt teacher extraordinaire. This time, she entered two bags in the contest, both of which are practical and stylish. She always finds interesting buttons or zippers to add. The first one, above, is rather sombre.
Whereas this bag, which won a prize, was more colourful with the help of upholstery fabric and some recycled fasteners for kimono jackets (haori).
These resemble Friendship Bracelets that young girls often braid and give each other, but have a different function, of course.
Foreign tourists who are into quilting often buy a handful of second-hand haori braids to use in quilting and other crafts.
If you are interested in how to put on and take off a haori and how to tie the little fastener, I have included a short video from Kinoshita Kimono Lab's YouTube channel.
It's all in Japanese, but nevertheless interesting to watch. Maybe it explains why fewer ladies dress in kimono these days! After all, it's so much easier to slip into a pair of jeans and pull a T-shirt over one's head!
And how many of us follow special rules for dressing casually? The traditional dress code in Japan is strict, although the instructor here uses the modern word 'smart', as in smart phone and convenient ways.
Now let's return to the bags at the quilt show.
Another of Ms Ueno's students, 竹田悦子, was inspired by her teacher's design but used old denim for her bag.
So did 三木準子, another of her students. There is a lot of movement in the way she has placed the pieces.
久保佳代子is yet another student of Ms Ueno. She also used denim in her shoulder bag.
梅野京子's bag has a metallic button that, from a distance, looks like a Dorset Button.
太田絹子 included a red fabric with a 'patchwork' print.
竹村泰子 says that she loves circles. She used a plain fabric in off-white with grey dots. She decorated each dot with appliqué, felt and stitching.
These Japanese ladies are so precise in their work.
Here is a UFO bag by 北川信子
It must be practical to carry home a pizza in it.
薄井美代子 used a variety of recycled kimono silk for her brown bag.
萩本みちエ also used an old kimono for her plum blossom bag.
Here is an unusual bag for you, made by ふわぬのひろ. There is no space for a bulky wallet or make-up bag, but it is a showstopper and conversation piece.
Hexagons and Christmassy stars by 西山清美.
Would you possibly have one of these at home? I'm not talking about the bag, but the robot vacuum cleaner it is based on? As you can see, it is full of small and cheerful cleaners!
The maker, 藤本容子, titled her bag 'inside of a robotic vacuum cleaner'.
Some quilt makers worked on structure and texture. 和田まゆみ
Or, like 寺杣清子, encrusted the bag's kimono belt fabric with beads galore.
Do you remember the Rubik's Cube from Hungary? It was very popular in the 1980s. The cubic puzzle inspired 平田信子to make this interesting and colourful bag.
I think the details on this bag as well as the combination of colours were very pleasing.
山口信子。
Lovers of Boutis will admire this heavily quilted and padded bag by 石井智美. It was one in a set of three: a tote bag, a pouch and a mobile phone case. Together they won the Grand Prix.
I am already looking forward to next year's quilt show.
I love this variation of the traditional Wheel Stitch. If you packed more of the Buttonhole Stitch in each quarter, you would end up with a cross in the middle!
Homework:
Let Sunbonnet Sue illustrate these five stitches, somehow.
The volume of progress is low, but I did work on several things.
Hexablooms
I basted just a few more hexagon cards with fabric.
I joined a number of hexagon flowers to the flimsy, but I didn't count how many.
Bookmark
It is so hard to hold the narrow strip of linen and stitch in hand. Therefore, I basted support fabric on both sides so I can use a hoop. I hope this will speed up the progress.
The Quilt Show and the Report
I don't know if this can be counted as progress, but some of my stitching time was used to visit the quilt show and then write up a report. The latter always takes time; I want to mention the quilters' names. This time I settled for only searching for the names and not the pronunciation. That is why there is no Roman script for the names.
If you didn't read the report you can find it here.
I had a great time meeting up with friends and sharing our impressions.
Last Saturday, I went to see the 9th Quilts Japan Contest Exhibition, which was held at the Crafting Art Gallery in Nakano, Tokyo.
Quilts and bags were on display. Today, I will show the quilts, the bags at another time.
Charming hearts stringed up, ready for the Christmas tree?
若松操
Beware, The Lion King has spotted you!
須藤恵美
Memories from a holiday in Hokkaido.
稲谷美穂
I think this quilt was made with yukata (cotton kimono for summer) fabric.
佐藤志津江
The text is in Finnish (F) and Swedish (S):
TERVEIULOA=Welcome (F)
MOI=Hello (F)
KAHVITAUKO=coffee break( F)
SOKERI=Sugar (F)
MUNKKI=Doughnut (F)
HILLO MUNKKI=Jam doughnut (F)
FIKA=Coffee (S)
SKA VI FIKA?=Let's have a coffee break. (S)
KAHVI & MUNKKI=Coffee & Doughnuts (F)
三浦寿美子
This tapestry was made from kimono belt (obi) brocade fabric, and is laden with heavy metallic thread.
佐藤好子
Intricate machine quilting.
森下千代子
Hexagon log cabin roses.
所靖子
Small hexagons of Liberty Lawn and feminine pastels, hand quilted and framed with lots of embroidery.
稲谷美穂
An intriguing quilt.
The whole quilt is covered with sheer chiffon/net, but underneath... It is either fuzzy-cut hexagon pieces of fabric attached precisely with fabric glue, then layered and machine quilted in a hexagonal pattern, and then embroidered with free-motion stitching.
OR, the entire foundation fabric is hand-painted or drawn with crayons, then layered and quilted.
Notice the white void around each hexagon shape.
I love hexagons, hydrangeas, purple and green, so this was one of my favourite quilts.
大塚千鶴子
We all smiled at the piggy with a mouthful of rubies!
船場幸子
A tribute to Hokkaido and Ainu culture.
宇都宮伊津子
Going on a cruise has grown in popularity, and there are many extraordinary ships these days.
畑幸子
Except for the deer, this is the view of our local park, fully dressed in autumnal splendour.
河谷晴美
I can almost hear them miaowing.
関谷みよこ
I can almost hear the chorus of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
冨森ちとみ
This saw-tooth edge is nicely done in two sizes.
小林加代子
For the love of paisley.
杉本美津子
Anyone who loves Mola will be charmed by this quilt.
固本佳子
Viva Crazy Quilting. Here with accents of felt flowers.
佐々木直子
This is another of my favourites, of suggestive art.
Imagine you sit in front of this quilt for a long time, for example, in a waiting room and see what you can see.
Is it a landscape of forests and snow-topped mountains or a cityscape with white buildings and many windows and green parks?
Is it the remains of a bombed-out city with fires still roaring and dark smoke billowing up into the sky?
Is it a strip of uncut, old-fashioned film taken at high speed of the same scene?
Is it a mosaic or a section of a kaleidoscope?
Before you know it, your name is called out in the waiting room. The dentist is waiting with that dreaded drill...
近藤容子
This reminds me of Japanese balls wound with silk thread, 'temari' or crystal glass cut into intricate patterns, 'kiriko'.
大原なつみ
Mt Fuji dressed for Christmas?
内山淳美
It has been a long time since I saw a taupe quilt. A bit of red adds both spice and charm.
竹田ゆう子
Anyone who has read my blog recently knows that I try to follow the idea of SDGs and try to mend or recycle my clothing.
This quilter used her husband's business suit after he retired from work. She turned it into a piece of art to show gratitude for all the hard work the suit has done for them.
The red text in the first picture says: 'Thank you for working so hard for us for so long.'
The quilter made good use of the labels, pockets and the buttoned cuffs of the sleeve, too.
細見久視子
Can you see the movement in this scene? Can you feel the wind on your face?
竹中晴子
Kimonos made out of kimonos!
梅野京子
Sunbonnet Sue in 64 situations of work and play.
I will have to study this quilt in detail to gather ideas to use for my Sunday Stitch School Revision Samplers.
鈴木美知子
Beautiful water lilies in the pond. The inner border is unusual.
杉本美津子
These cheerful hearts are skipping, jumping and flying around.
北田郁代
Oh, the tropical beauty of Mola. A masterpiece of minute and precise work.
坂根ようこ
There are some very famous baseball players in Major League Baseball. There is even a team of cats! LA Gingers vs LA Tabbies.
所靖子
Here is a quilt full of movement, and in my favourite colours. I don't know if recycled fabric was used, or not, but this could surely be classified as an SDGs scrap quilt with all those small squares...
岸田邦子
Here is another recycling SDGs quilt made of curtains, snippets of fabric, orts (short lengths of thread), thread and buttons.
嶋田悟子
What's hiding under the quilt? A cat!
髙野かづ子
With simple embroidery stitches and intricate patterns, you can make a beautiful collection of doilies, snowflakes and cut paper circles.
田中須美子
The Japanese Zodiac of twelve animals. You can move the animal of each year and place it in turn in the middle.
The display is for next year, 2026, which is the Year of the Horse.
河村英子
Finally, I will show you a black and white quilt, drawn and painted with ink and outlined with embroidery stitches.
