Sunday 1 February 2015

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival - 7 More quilts?! And more things?!

By now you are probably fed up with Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival.

Yes? Stop reading now.

Don't know? Well, here is a summery for you; this post contains:

  • the winning quilts
  • other quilts
  • kogin
  • whitework
  • boutis
  • Japanese embroidery


No? Then read on.

The Grand Prix, Best in show, went to
a quilt in indigo blue
三坂悦子*Etsuko Misaka

Second prize went to this absolutely STUNNING quilt - a masterpiece if ever I saw one!
渡辺章子*Akiko Watanabe

The prize for handmade quilt

川上亜矢子*Ayako Kawakami

This quilt needed a lot of planning and fussy cutting
鬼塚美佐子*Misako Onitsuka

Here a sample of the clever use of kimono fabric, to dress the lady in - a kimono!
市村静子*Shizuko Ichimura

Every quilt show has some indigo quilts

古谷敦子*Atsuko Furuya

A charming village quilt

植松章子*Akiko Uematsu

Red and white is always striking
出家晴美*Harumi Shukke

Amish quilts are popular, even when they are machine quilted

小圷サト子*Satoko Koakutsu

Look how you can use the Buttonhole stitch on the machine for a nice accent.
池敬子*Keiko Ike

A Japanese quilt show is not a show without a taupe quilt. This one features Tokyo Station, in celebration of the station's 100th anniversary.

内藤千鶴子*Chizuko Naito

Handquilted Baltimore Album quilts are also popular
上坂和美*Kazumi Uesaka

A lot of perfection and work has gone into this quilt.



清田澄枝*Sumie Kiyota

Here is a quilt to inspire my friend of Hokkaido Kudasai
How many Mondays' worth of count would you need before you finished this quilt, Pamela?

田中福子*Fukuko Tanaka

This famous artist never fails to amaze the crowds with her charming, lively and witty quilts.

関田陽子*Yoko Sekita


NHK (the TV broadcaster) has recently shown a series of documentaries about Japanese fabric. In one of the programmes they focused on Kogin, the embroidery used to reinforce farmers' clothes in Aomori prefecture of northern Japan. At the show there was a display of such clothes and stitching. Some of my readers will recognise these items once on display at the Amuse museum in Tokyo.
If you want to try your hand at Kogin, Carolyn Foyley of caro-rose-creations has worked an impressive number of patterns and kindly made them accessible on her blog.

Famous embroidery artist Ayako Ohtsuka had some of her beautiful items on display


So did boutis expert Kumiko Nakayama Geraerts


Finally, a display of impeccable Japanese embroidery by




A word of warning, there will be one more post from Tokyo International Great Quilts Festival, but it's about things you take home, such as shopping!

36 comments:

Séverine said...

All these quilts are stunning, thank you for having shown us.

Renee said...

Wow! These are all just fabulous. I fell in love with the quilt that won in the handmade category. Then again, with the charming village. And then I saw the one by Yoko Sekita and was absolutely blown away. Thank you so much for sharing!

Lenka said...

Thank you for all post about TIGQF ! It is so interesting and beautiful.
Lenka

magicmoonmusings said...

One can never be fed up with the pictures you share with us!! Thank you VERY much for sharing all your photos, it's a real treat. (And your photography skills are terrific)

Lyn Warner said...

Thanks for the wonderful inspiring photos! The Tokyo station quilt is interesting. It looks like a representation of a floor or some tiled work? How many hours and hours of precise work and loving care must have gone into each of the quilts!

Queeniepatch said...

I don't know how many quilts there were in total, but what I have shown is just a handful! As I have no more pictures I can't share any more! Good to hear you have enjoyed them.

Queeniepatch said...

Yoko Sekita is a 'sensei' =teacher, master, and must also be an artist. All her quilts would be wonderful as a drawing, but I really have to take my hat off because her appliqué skills are stunning. I also like the way she captures light and movement.

Queeniepatch said...

I am happy to hear you enjoyed my report(s) from the show.

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you, Marie, for your kind words. I find the pictures slightly pale, but don't want to alter too much with photo editing. Thankfully the light in Tokyo Dome is rather good (it's a baseball stadium and have all those powerful spotlights high up as well as spotlights directed to the quilts.

Queeniepatch said...

Thank you for pointing that out! I have to check the next time I go through the entry lobby. The top of the quilt feature the ceiling, as you can see in this photo.
http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=8885363
A LOT of time goes into these (mainly handmade) quilts - then many women are housewives of an age where husband is still working but children no longer in 100% need of mother, hence they have time on their hands.

Anonymous said...

Queenie, Thank you so much for your extensive coverage of the Tokyo show. I'll never now travel to be able to see it and your lovely reportage makes that easier to handle. As always your blog entries are lively and interesting. Again, thank you. Neame from USA Pacific coast.

carorose said...

Who wouldn't want to keep looking at these quilts. Just stunning. Thank you for posting them.

Queeniepatch said...

I am glad if my reports have enabled you to do some 'armchair travelling'. Distance, air fares and dealing with the crowds are reasons for not visiting in person.

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

Wow, you've saved the best for (almost) last. I will bookmark this post and look at it again and again particularly for the winning handmade quilt by Ayako Kawakami. Thank you so much Queenie!

Queeniepatch said...

And thank YOU, Carolyn, for doing so much for kogin. I didn't expect that corner at the exhibition and instantly thought I needed to give a link to your website for those who are enchanted by the beautiful designs and want to try for themselves.

Pamela said...

I love reading about the show! Thanks for sharing with the rest of us and giving us a taste of being there.

Queeniepatch said...

Oh, how Julie and I missed your company. It would have been a riot having you with us and I am sure you would have enjoyed all the quilts that I have not blogged about. Julie has been busy but she will post her pictures and there are sure to be of other quilts than mine.
Unfortunately the winning quilts are somewhat roped off so you can't sneak up for really good close up pictures. The handmade quilt had so many details one could have stood there all day and drooled!

Queeniepatch said...

It is such a pity you weren't able to make it to the show. There were several hexagon quilts that you would have loved looking at among the many other quilts.

Julie Fukuda said...

I am almost embarrassed to think of posting my lousy pictures.
The Women's Conference was a great break but nothing got done while I was gone. Maybe tomorrow I can figure out some of the mystery names so I can post something.

Queeniepatch said...

You HAVE to post some pictures! Cynthia is waiting for your pick of the show.
If I had used my old camera my pictures would have been full of runny pink lines!
Good to hear you had a nice time at the conference.

Annet said...

Wow, those are gorgeous quilts! It almost make me want to start a new quilt, but there are enough WIP quilts hidden in my cupboard. I'm looking forward to see the goodies you bought.

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

I'm certainly not fed up with seeing the quilts from the festival, thanks for sharing your photos. There so many lovely quilts and I was thinking how much time must have gone into making them. Love the quilt by Yoko Sekita especially.

Janie said...

Thanks for sharing, Queenie, I enjoy the details in those quilts, such great hand work.

Queeniepatch said...

We have to learn not to get too much inspiration at a quilt show and start new projects all the time! First deal with the WIPs!

J Honda said...

this is one of my very favorite posts! My favorite is the prize for Handmade quilt - Question: is each quilt made entirely by the "author" of the quilt? I am assuming it is, but wanted to ask. Also, these quilts must take a year or two to make, no? I have never ever made a large size quilt, so I wanted to ask.

Queeniepatch said...

Yoko Sekita's quilts are so detailed and full of funny activities. The body language and embroidered facial expressions are such a joy to study. One can easily stand there for ages!

Queeniepatch said...

All the quilts are made with painstaking care, but remember this is a judge entry; the not so good quilts were not accepted. So you get the créme de la créme.

crazyQstitcher said...

Thank you again for sharing the photos. Pity there are not first prizes for everyone. It would be an onerous job for a Judge to decide.
Whether machine or hand-quilted each is beautiful but the dedication in the latter is amazing - the curved patterns especially.
Yoko Sekita's fabulous quilt is like an 'I Spy' in France. Clever, colourful and full of fun.

Queeniepatch said...

It was a quilt of the highest quality, but also charm and beauty.
I am 99% sure that the quilts must be original design (not a published pattern from a magazine) by the quilter. If you have been disciplined in a Japanese school from age 6 at aiming at speed, accuracy and devotion to whatever you do, then you can also apply that to quilting. I am sure that many quilts take a year or more to make, but remember many of these quilters are housewives with no other hobby. The next generation will have less time on their hands as they go out to work, need to commute, look after house and family and might have other interests as well. It will be interesting to see what changes there are (machine quilting, smaller quilts, simpler patterns...?)

Queeniepatch said...

I think there are five judges in the team and they DO have a hard time.
Yoko Sekita's quilts are full of activities, but also of characteristic of that theme (London, the traditional Japanese wedding, a concert orchestra...)

J Honda said...

thank you Qeenie - that is very interesting

Lyn Warner said...

A beautiful ceiling and a lovely interpretation of it in fabric on the quilt, thanks for the link. It's fascinating when you can learn some of the background that inspired a quilt.

Queeniepatch said...

Thank YOU, Lyn, for asking about the floor tile pattern. It made me take a second look at the quilt and notice new things, like the ceiling and the clocks...
Of course there is a story behind EVERY quilt, and at a show we know so very little about the maker, the reason behind the quilt and for whom it was made.

Dianne said...

Oh Queenie. All I can say is WOW WOW WOW. The attention to detail is so amazing I am truly gob smacked. Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful quilts and fine work.

Queeniepatch said...

Have you ever been to a quilt show in Japan? One thing is that you will find 95% (or more) are JAPANESE quilts, so the style and quality is Japanese. I don't know why not more quilts from abroad are entered or accepted. Then you get a more diverse view of quilts. Sometimes one is not only gob smacked, but full of envy or dismay, 'I could never do that!', when one sees the fine work.

Anonymous said...

I was wondering whether you know the name of the quilt pattern made by Misako Onitsuka featured on this page. It is a traditional Japanese quilt pattern and when I translated the label it just said, "Traditional quilt kaleidoscope Misako Onizuka (Tochigi Prefecture)" by way of description. I have seen this pattern by two other Japanese quilters online but I have not been able to find the name of the pattern.