Tokyo International Quilt Festival 2017 - Part 2

One of my favorites!

the maker of the quilt shown above

I have a confession to make - I'm not particularly fond of many of the quilts in the Tokyo Quilt Festival competition.  This year they just seem to be missing something.  Apparently, if you win the Grand Prix, you can no longer enter quilts into competition.  However, they do have an exhibit that allows past winners to show off a quilt.  Many of my favorites come from here, including the one pictured above.  Unfortunately, these quilts are mounted on a white background with a busy design - not very conducive to appreciating the quilts!  I try to crop out as much of it as possible.  Also, the lighting isn't great - sometimes horizontal shadows appear across the quilts (like in the center of the quilt at the start of the post).  Information on the quilt name, maker, etc are in the little pictures - unfortunately, most of the time the "stories" are only in Japanese.

Here are some close ups of the quilt showcased at the top.  I think I favor it because it's the first one that helped me realize I can make good use of some of the Japanese fabrics I've been buying and putting in my stash.

hydrangea blooms (I think)

love the grapes

shibori fabric flower

A very interesting quilt - none of the white is caused by fabric or paint - the artist used cross stitch to "color" in the white part of the quilt, including in the border.

Remember what I said about shadows! 

Here's the border - I have no idea how long the cross stitch would take - many, many hours!

The (machine) quilting adds nice texture to the background.

This quilt is just pretty!  I love the yellow and gray together.  I also adore the pointed arches in the border, made with bias tape.  Bias tape is very prevalent in both the quilts from past winners and the quilts in competition.

I think I'm getting dizzy.

quilt center, with more bias tape

the corner details - lots of French knots

I love wisteria!  We have a trellis at our house and I planned to plant it, even though it only blooms for one week.  Regrettably, it's poisonous to dogs, as many blooming vines are - morning glory, honeysuckle, etc.  So I've never grown it, though I think it's beautiful..

Wait, unless these are grapes...nope, those are wisteria leaves.

Border picture - this is a traditional Japanese design.

I enjoy this one because of the colors - you often see green together with an orangey-red in kimonos and other textiles in Japan.  The blocks that make up the quilt are interesting, too.  It's a diamond log cabin variation.

"Out, damned shadow! Out, I say!"

I love the little strip of fabric along one
long side - nice accent!

Great use of small print fabrics - even some shibori, too.

This seems to be one of the highlights of the show - I've seen different blogs/companies showcase it.  Maybe because it's different from traditional Japanese quilts?  Maybe the maker is well known internationally?  The use of color and geometric designs make it one I appreciate.

This quilt has a prefect name! (see pic to the right)

Applique and reverse applique

lots of layers and details

This is another good example of the use of Japanese fabrics, as piecing versus applique.

The design makes me think of clouds.

A closer look at the Japanese fabrics...and more bias tape designs.

The next post will share some of the other exhibits and competition quilts.