Having just returned from the Tokyo Quilt Festival, I am just starting to go through all my photos of the beautiful quilts. As I mentioned in the Saturday night newsletter, there is more machine quilting and also an indirect Modern influence showing up at this show…but we still love to see the meticulously detailed handwork of traditional Japanese quilters. It is fascinating to see how old and new are being combined in the Japanese quilts…traditional elements given a modern or contemporary twist…machine stitching where hand-stitching might have been used in the past.
One of the most lovely artistic expressions there, is the love for Japanese art and culture, that is expressed through traditional motifs like cherry blossoms. This was one of my favorite traditional quilts, but you can see it has been given a contemporary twist. This is what I love about quilting …that we have an infinite range of possibilities when it comes to mixing up old and new, brights and neutrals, Western and Eastern influences, etc.
I have just started to upload some photos from Tokyo on my photo page – check back later this week for more quilts! You may recall that I am adamant about showing the name of the quiltmaker along with the quilt image, and often at the Tokyo show I have to paste in the image of the quiltmaker’s name in Japanese Kanji. I am working on that this week! I will post overall show photos without names, but individual quilts will have the name on the image. I hope that others who have visited the show will do the same, so the quiltmakers get credit for their work.
I ran into Lisa Walton at the Tokyo Quiltfest, and we had fun discussing the workshop she will be teaching at eQuilter April 14-15. If you want to learn how to design and make quilts using fusible applique, come and join us for a celebration of creativity with Lisa!
Registration is now open for the Color Marketing Group’s Chromazone which we are hosting in May – for designers, art directors and artists to experience a color forecasting collaboration with color peers.
Now is the time to make a deposit if you want to save your seat on the Polar Rover with me in November, for the Polar Bear Tour. This trip always sells out in advance, but payment plans are available!
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana and Paul
* The image above features a photo of a quilt from the Tokyo Quilt Festival, with the quiltmaker’s name in the lower left. The strip of fabrics along the left is a collage of new designs from QuiltGate, which just arrived in our warehouse this week.
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Event & Travel Calendar:
Feb 10 – eQuilter Charity Sewing Day (Please RSVP!)
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California
Feb 26 – Marty Ornish CQC workshop @ eQuilter Classroom
Mar 1 – May 15 – Registration for ‘Love Your Mother‘ Quilt Challenge
April 5-7 – SAQA Conference San Antonio TX
April 14-15 – Lisa Walton workshop @ eQuilter Classroom
May 11 – eQuilter Chromazone – Color Marketing Group
Nov 13-19, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Register NOW!
