Be*mused

The current state of things

When I last posted about my lollipop project, I was enthusiastically starting block #3, hoping...nay, planning... that this eventual nine block quilt would be hanging in my newly painted kitchen this summer.  I took this photo this morning.  *Delusional* comes to mind.  My enthusiasm hasn't waned but it had to be put aside, owing to another big project and...confession...a need for some new glasses.  (Those little stitches!)  I'm considering fabrics again for the current block so, how does Christmas sound? 

Things have been buzzing around here. Among all of the myriad lists and home improvement schedules, I've been holed up for weeks in the sewing room, choosing and switching, cutting and stitching.  I've burned out an iron!  Replaced a cutting board!  And finally I can breathe a little.  But, alas...don't you hate it when bloggers do this...I can't share it yet. I've taken lots of pictures and notes through the process, so just hang on a bit more.  Like 6 weeks, 2 days, 21 hours, 55 minutes and 57 seconds (Tokyo time), according to Molly's wedding website just now. 

I only even mention it to let you know that yes, this still is a mostly quilting blog and things will get back to normal eventually.  Most probably the day after the wedding, otherwise known as *the first day of the rest of my life*.  I've missed writing here, but haven't had much stitchy news to share. Or, frankly, the focus to write about other things. I generally ignore the stats, but I took a peek the other day to see how many of you had drifted off, only to find subscribers up.  So you prefer fewer posts?

In other news...and believe me, this is BIG news, in our family anyhow...ding dong, the couch is dead.  Well, not dead, but wrestled down to the basement family room by M and myself in a comical...if we had been watching someone else do it...trip down an enclosed staircase with a tight turn at the bottom.  (Where are the kids when you need them?  Oh yeah, Tokyo and Shanghai.)  Although it looks in great condition here, it has given many years of faithful service.  I was looking through some old family photos last week and came across this one...

Molly and K, sitting on that same couch, 28 years ago.  Can you believe this has been our family couch that long?  I was a stern taskmaster...No food in there!!   I've wanted to replace it for many years...the family joke...but it was always something.  So sure was I of its imminent demise that when the kids and partners visited Chicago for Christmas, 2010, we staged a ceremonial, last photo on the white couch. 

And then we found out we were moving again!  And it took until now to finally replace it.  Sorry, no shot of the new furniture.  The painter's here this week working on the hallways and kitchen.  We assembled some Ikea pieces on the weekend which are waiting to be moved to bedrooms.  A sleeper couch was delivered on Saturday for a spare bedroom and the displaced childhood bookcases (and bed) have resulted in stacks of books and extra linens that are waiting for a new destination.  The dining room table is covered with folders marked *church*, *reception*, *bakery*, *florist*, *music* and *flight itineraries* and incoming reply cards. In short, the house is in a fruit-basket-upset state.  M shakes his head and comments that things look more unsettled than ever and I reassure him that everything will start falling into place soon.

At least in 5 weeks, 2 days, 21 hours..... when those flights start arriving.  I hope.

Janice, not to worry!

****Recently I found myself speaking with someone in India (or thereabouts) regarding a computer issue. I consider such interactions comparable to a trip to the dentist's, but everything was resolved quickly and smoothly and my contact couldn't have been more helpful. Several times while unraveling my problem, he reassured me..."Janice, not to worry!"

So what have I been up to during my longer-than-expected absence? Oh, lots of this & that. Having some painting done here at the house, trying to make it look more like our place than the previous owners', especially with Molly's wedding coming up in July. She was just here at the end of her US business trip for a solid week of mostly wedding planning ~ meetings with the florist, bakery, reception venue, rehearsal dinner location, hairdresser and bridal shop alteration person in addition to assembling invitations and numerous side trips and shopping excursions. Ten more weeks. Nine really, because I'll have a houseful the week before. That's the countdown that's ticking in my head.

There's been lots of sewing. I'll share some soon. But mostly I've been making lists. Crossing things off lists. Adding things to them. Trying to think of things that I may be forgetting.

Look what arrived yesterday, Gwen Marston's new Liberated Medallion Quilts. Just what I needed last night as I plopped myself in my chair for the evening. It's chock full of wonderful quilts and has prompted so many ideas...probably not what I need, more ideas. Sometimes that's more of a problem than a dry well, isn't it?

Speaking of which, are you on Pinterest...yet? I expect eventually we all will be. I initially resisted but now it's my guilty pleasure. I may have 987 blog posts waiting to be read in Google Reader (have I missed anything important the last few weeks? I'm tempted to wipe the slate clean and start fresh...) but I always have a few minutes to check out what's new on Pinterest, opiate of the creative masses. On the plus side, I'm saving lots on impulsive magazine purchases, getting my visual rush every time I click over, no longer having to favorite all those links on my computer. I'm curious...if you have a Pinterest account, do you have a separate board where you post things you've made? I wish there was an option to keep a board from being shared. Any thoughts?

Oh, before I forget, thanks for the wonderful response to my quilt purchase. I've been so busy the past few weeks that I still haven't given it a good stitch-by-stitch examination. I've definitely gotten the message that many of you would be interested in a pattern. Just as so many of you were interested in a pattern for the sunflower quilt. I'm considering it (them), but it will have to wait until A.W. ~ after the wedding. (Like so many things...)

Sorry, I am just hopping all over the place in this post...kind of like my recent days. Trying to roll with it, but sometimes feeling a bit overwhelmed by the looming date. Those of you who know me know I'm more the crunchy-granola type of low-key mom, not the international event hostess. But a funny thing happened on Wednesday. Within an hour, I was thrown a couple of wedding plan curveballs. My first reaction ~ "Gahhhhh!" But then I heard that charming, reassuring voice in the back of my head..."Janice, not to worry!"

Thanks, Ramesh. Keep whispering in my ear.

Sometimes

If you're a quilt lover, you've probably come across an old quilt at an antique show or a junk shop that catches your eye.  You catch your breath when you see it, and then you tell yourself, 'forget it'.  You spend enough on fabric to make your own quilts.  You are emphatically not a collector.  By choice.  Because you know that once you start, it's a slippery slope.  Besides, this quilt has lots of problems.  Its bloomers are worn through, its undies are showing!

Leaves are a-poppin'.

Dyes have rotted out the few prints, soft batting bleeds out though the holes.

Why, it's stained here and there.  Clearly not functional.  The price is ridiculous.  You're not a collector.  You walk away, happy to have enjoyed it for a few minutes.

But sometimes these quilts have special powers.  They exert their own kind of mind control.  You find yourself driving by the shop, which is off your usual route, just to see if it's still in the window.  You mention it to a few people.  Quilt people.  That clan you know will cheer you on.  You go back and ask if you can take some photos.

While melting over the charming little details...the basket handles dripping hearts!!...you notice the quilting.  Densely worked, organic in design and fine in execution.  The quilter poured her heart into this.  By the time she got to the border work, she was running out of red fabric.  Some of the flowers are pieced from scraps. 

You thank the sleepy salesclerk and start to leave, thinking maybe you were right.  It's just too worn.  There are too many other expenses this spring.  But she jumps up, unprompted, and calls the owner.  She'll take less.  You'll think about it.

Each time you sit down at the computer, you find yourself drifting over to the photo album, clicking through your shots.  'Come get me", it whispers through the screen.

The next day you jump in the car and tentatively return, only to find the shop closed, despite posted hours to the contrary.  It's a sign.  This is a frivolous crush. 

But sometimes a crush can be a wonderful precursor.  (You married your high school sweetheart, didn't you?)

*sigh*

94"x84"

Sometimes you just can't ignore that little voice in your head that after enumerating all the reasons why not, screams...'Are you crazy?!!  Go get it before it's gone!'

No regrets.

A quick hello

Sometime in February, frustrated by the inability to find particular fabrics that I knew were in there somewhere, I pulled most of my stacks out and spent the better part of two days reorganizing my stash.  I do this every once in a while after first doing an internet search of other quilters' strategies, certain that there must be some secret formula.  Is there one?  Please let me in on it.

I did a pretty good job of it, though still occasionally flummoxed by such big categorization issues as...should Kaffe dots go in the KF pile or the dots stack?  What about the Koseki text designs...the SK section or the words stack?  Usually around this point, I take a little break.  Maybe get a quick snack.  Then I return to start shoving things back in their cubbies, willy-nilly.  This time I pressed on and was quite pleased with myself.  For several weeks in February, I sat at my table, appliqueing my lollipop blocks, basking in the tidiness of the space.

Yeah, well. 

For all of you who so often comment on my neat room, this is how it sometimes devolves as I'm working out something new.  Decisions, decisions.  Five fabrics discarded for each one that works.  So much for the organized stacks.  I did pick up a bit this morning, but you don't think I'm taking two more days to re-sort, do you?  

I have nothing more than my messy room to share today.  If you're looking for a knock-your-socks-off project photo, you must go right now to check out Nifty Quilts. *swoon* 

I'm actually just dropping in today to say "I'm still here!"  And where have I been?

• Shopping for a dress for Molly's wedding (my head hurts...)
• Consulting with the florist, the baker, the candlestick maker (scratch that last one...)
• Playing Goldilocks as we hunt...and hunt... for new living room furniture.  And a sleeper sofa for an extra bedroom.  Let's just say, they don't make things like they used to.
• Trying to decide on upholstery fabrics.
• Preparing for more house painting, inside and out.
• Decisions, decisions and more decisions.

I'm loving the warm weather, as I know so many of you are.  There's a unique delight that a new homeowner enjoys when spring rolls around and all kinds of surprises reveal themselves as plants pop up here and there and bare bushes burst in to bloom.  Even if (when) the cold weather returns for a while, it has been so energizing to be able to open the windows and feel the warm breeze as it blows the curtains a bit.  This morning I caught the whiff of newly mown grass from somewhere in the neighborhood.  Guess I'd better put some Preen and Claritin on the shopping list.  And maybe pull the snowplow stakes from the driveway's edge.  I'd hate to tempt fate, though.

The way-back machine

Log Cabin, Straight Furrows set ~ 88"x88"

I was digging through my big box of quilt files this afternoon...magazine tear-outs, ebay printoffs, old show catalogs...and came across a slide sheet filled with slides of my first quilts from my newlywed days in the mid-1970s.  This is my very first quilt! 

The slide is overexposed, so I tweaked it a bit in Picasa but the image still a little washed out and yellowish.  It was quite vibrant!  I used 'calicoes' available at the time, some cottons and some blends.  There weren't many options available then.  No quilt shops.  Mostly fabric departments at JCPenney and department stores.  I used hot pink kettle cloth for the center squares...so modern for the time, when everyone was remaking traditional quilts during those Bicentennial years.  Kettle cloth was sturdier than calico, which was helpful structurally because this piece was tied through the centers and at the block corners with embroidery floss (extra-thick batting and a percale sheet backing).  At the time, I couldn't imagine ever hand-quilting a whole quilt!

Here's the best blast-from-the-past.  No rotary cutters then.  I made separate templates (out of cereal box cardboard) for each strip size and traced and hand-cut each piece.  One hundred and twenty one blocks' worth.  Sadly, I no longer have the quilt, which was a family favorite.  But I do have a few pieces of cloth that I used in my stash. 

Ok, playtime's over...back to the task at hand.  Have a great weekend!  (Do you still have your first quilt?)

Fabric notes

Keiko Goke's newest line of fabric designs

When visiting the Tokyo Quilt Festival, I'd guess that most quilters alternate between viewing the numerous individual shows and browsing the vendors' booths. Each requires a different type of focus and provides a little break from the other. For international visitors especially, the vendors' area gives a pretty good overview of the current availability of Japanese quilting fabric, although not complete.

Keiko Goke and her two assistants, dressed in her colorful fabrics.

I've written in past years that I make a beeline to two booths when I arrive at the show...Keiko Goke's and Suzuko Koseki's...because they always feature new lines at the show and popular designs/colors sell out quickly. This year was no different. I was there on opening day, first thing in the morning, yet I still missed out on a few I would have liked.

Quilters sometimes tell me that they love Keiko's designs but they can't work with such bold prints. I think they have so much potential and find myself using them more and more in appliqué and piecing, mixed with a variety of other fabrics. When I saw these prints, I immediately envisioned appliqué leaves cut from the centers of the circles. I picked up three colorways.

This striped design was a brand new one and I had already picked up several, mostly for fussy-cutting, when I saw how Keiko had used them, among other bold patterns, as backgound fabric for some several applique quilts. Cabbage Quilts Cathy is a big fan of these KG designs. She's making a Kim McLean quilt using mostly Keiko's fabric. There are always a few quilts in the Tokyo show that use mostly Goke fabric and this year was no different. One, two, three...all so different!

Frankly, I have no idea how I'll use these three, but they came home with me, as well as some yardage of another floral design that is slated for a work apron, like one of her assistant's.

Suzuko Koseki's booth

Suzuko Koseki's booth, La Clochette, was filled with pre-cuts of her new line as well as a good bit of several previous lines. As usual, it was a real free-for-all, with many of her popular text prints flying off the counter faster than her staff could replenish them. She often has new dot and stripe fabrics as a part of each new line and this year, I found them at least as appealing as the text prints.

Koseki mini-stripes

Koseki octagon dots

Although they aren't initially as eye-grabbing as the collage prints, I've already been using these in a couple of projects since I've been home and they're great. To see more of how people use Koseki's prints together and integrated with other fabrics, you'll want to visit the Koseki Flickr site. Lots of things to see there!

Selfish M shop

I usually focus on the designer booths because their fabrics are more commonly available, but there are lots of quirky little booths that are fun to poke around in. This one and a few others featured mostly bright, candy colored fabric, some with glitter, some fluorescent.

This year I consciously steered clear of the many taupe quilt fabric booths and didn't even venture down the vintage indigo/chirimen/aizome aisle. Frankly, I didn't need the temptation.

Canvas bolt cart ~ Yuzawaya

The Quilt Festival offers a vast yet concentrated selection of cottons prints but most of it is pre-cut, aside from the Yuwa booth, which often doesn't carry the designer fabrics if they have a separate booth at the show. So what's a person to do if she wants more then a half meter or so? My suggestion...if you're in Japan, of course...go to Yuzawaya. I have a couple of emails in my inbox right now with inquiries about where to shop for fabric in Japan. I've written about several great fabric stores in past years and you can find these by doing a search here, but my first and strongest recommendation would be to find a Yuzawaya. On successive trips to Japan, I have found their inventory seems to increase each time. They are found in many locations, in my experience, usually near the train station. I've visited at least three...Kichijoji, Kamata and a brand new one in Yokohama...and none disappoint.

Store shopping affords the opportunity to find the fabric gems that don't fall neatly into a quilting category and tend to less likely show up at a quilt booth. Like this little ditsy print...score!

And lest you think that current Japanese cottons only fall into the 'modern' quilting realm, Yuwa has a wonderful group of repro fabrics called 'Live Life Vintage Collection'. I found several last year in a sale bin and then this January was delighted to find a whole section of new bolts...my selection, above.

Except for the bright pieces from Selfish M, all of the yardage above is from Yuwa. Their fabrics are outstanding, with a lovely hand, even after a good wash. If you're looking for some of these prints, I would direct you to online quilt shops Glorious Color, eQuilter and Superbuzzy for random selections of Goke and Koseki prints. (There is a frustration from both shops and artists that for some reason, whole groups never seem to be available at once...something to do with the export middleman.) Shops in Japan are better stocked and increasingly open to international orders. I would suggest La Clochette and the shops linked through Quilt Wonderland. Etsy is another great place to find Japanese fabrics. This particular shop carries many of the recent Koseki text prints and hard to find contemporary Japanese prints. I can personally recommend her service.

**I've finally completed the Flickr set of my 2012 Tokyo Quilt Festival photos. I've really enjoyed reading the comments you've left on the quilt shots and am happy so many of you have enjoyed them.

Whoo-hoo!

I can't tell you how excited I am about this project! This morning I finished block #2 and couldn't wait to get a good shot of it. I'm starting to get a better feeling for colors that work against the red background and those that don't. My workroom looks like a tornado blew through, but after many months of not-very-directed work there, it's wonderful. When I'm feeling stressed about things, all I have to do is wander in and pick up some handwork and everything else melts away. And it's even better when I'm in a good mood to start with! My happy fabric nest.

I know (because of the email inquiries!) that many of you have been waiting for a post on current Japanese fabric. I've started it but need to assemble some related links and will have it up in a day or two. Additionally, I continue to add to the 2012 Tokyo Quilt Festival Flickr album and should be able to wrap that up tomorrow. The interest in the set is somewhat overwhelming...it's already had over 6,000 hits! I really enjoy reading the comments left on the photos and often find surprises in pieces that didn't really catch my attention at the show but garner lots of Flickr interest. My request for additional information on the Japanese artists stands. I welcome anything I could add to photo notes that would give the artists the recognition they so richly deserve. Happily, Keiko Goke was able to provide several names and I added them to the photos yesterday.

Time to get dinner going. Though maybe I'll scan in that next block design first...

Decisions, decisions

It takes longer to decide on fabrics for these blocks than to stitch them up!

**Hooked on Downton Abbey?  You can play with these hilarious paperdolls while you're waiting for Season 3.

Let's get this show on the road

**Note to self ~ Look, Jan, you've indulged this 3-week-old, nagging cold-from-hell quite long enough. Time to get moving, answer your emails, upload the rest of the quilt photos to your Flickr album and finish up the Festival posts.  And why you thought it was a good idea to leave all of your Christmas decorations in the living room to re-sort when you returned from Japan ~ beyond me!

 

Mary Koval's always-busy booth

As I have written, to my eye, the show this year seemed a little unfocused, but my perception was perhaps influenced by the nature of my visits this year...each shorter than my usual days at the show due to other commitments.  I often found myself darting around, looking for categories that weren't included this year and getting turned around, more than usual, in the maze-like exhibits.  Early on, however, I headed to the vendors' aisle of antique quilt dealers, where there are always some gems to be found.  

First stop...Mary Koval's booth.  Of all of the wonderful quilts that she brought, I found this border on a simple red & green basket quilt the most captivating. Note how that corner is a set-in block.

Next stop, Labors of Love Antique Quilts.  'MovingHands' Jennifer works a few days each year in this booth and though we tried to coordinate our days at the show to accommodate our usual visit, sadly, we couldn't make it work this year.  The graphic fan quilt (above) beckoned passers-by into the booth, which was crazy busy when I stopped by.  Unfortunately, I forgot to return, but did take more photos before I left, which I'll post in the Flickr album.

Each year, the Tokyo Quilt Festival promotional materials feature a different quilt.  This year, they displayed the original quilted piece next to the 2012 poster.  I was shocked to see how tiny the original was!  And by the crowds often clustered around it, I wasn't the only one. 

Detail, Quilt Festival promotional piece

Each year, upon my return, two items come up over and over again in comments and emails...'What were your favorite quilts this year?' and 'Tell us about the fabric!'.  I'll talk about fabric next time, but this year, I had more favorite sections of quilts than overall favorites.

Detail, travel quilt

I absolutely loved these flower blocks (above), which were part of a travel-themed quilt.  I've seen that block featured many times in old issues of Japanese quilt magazines, but never in such beautiful fabric/color combinations. 

How about this quilt?  These wonderful little silhouette figures covered the whole piece, each embroidered with individual identification.

The echo quilting!

Can you believe I didn't get a full shot of this one(above)?!!!  I meant to return when the crowds dissipated and forgot. 

Detail, 'WA' category quilt

Although I explain it in the text accompanying my Festival Flickr albums, invariably I get questions regarding the 'WA' quilt category...as in, what is it?  The "Wa" category designates quilts made in a uniquely Japanese style...in design and from vintage Japanese fabrics.

Detail...fabrics include vintage indigos, aizomes and sarasa prints.

The artist who made this wonderful piece used quite a variety of vintage Japanese fabrics, as is her style. We had to smile as Molly read the accompanying artist's statement on our first day at the show. 

Artist Yoshiko Yamamoto, me, Molly

The quilt is Yoshiko Yamamoto's interpretation of the transformation of her small town as new construction encroaches upon it.  I've watched these changes over the years as I spent my very first night in Japan at Yoshiko's home in 1994.  You might recall that last year, she had a quilt in the show.  This year, she had two pieces!

Yoshiko Yamamoto ~ Frame Quilt Category

I've mentioned my friend before, but one of these days, I'm going to write a bit more about her...and us.  For now, I'll just say that it is always a highlight of any trip to Japan if we can manage at least a short visit over a cup of coffee at a quilt show.  And this time, we did!