What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

By Patricia Belyea

WAUCONDA WA  I was completely taken by Bird By Bird at the 2014 Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK. Winning first-place in the traditional category, the 74″ x 74″ quilt was like something out of a candy shop—sweet as could be with delectable colors, rickrack trim around delightful details, and a scalloped edge.

Who could create a quilt like that? The answer is Philippa Naylor—a quilter with great style, a love of color, and the highest technical abilities

Years ago I read Philippa’s first book, Quilting in the Limelight, and became familiar with her ...

By Patricia Belyea

WAUCONDA WA  Koinobori decorate the landscape of Japan from April to early May, culminating in the celebration of Children’s Day on May 5. Typically hung off a pole, a set of carp streamers represents a whole family. On top is a big black fish for the father; then a rmedium-sized red or pink fish for the mother; and smaller fish below for the children.

I love the way koinobori playfully dance in the wind like koi swimming in a stream. This summer I decided to make koinobori with traditional Japanese yukata cottons and contrasting solid cottons ...

More progress on the shirts quilt - the circle quilting is finished! XXX Annika Continue reading →

By Patricia Belyea

WAUCONDA WA  I challenged myself to make a baby quilt using just one yard of yukata cotton and stitched with the Aurifil Como Blue Color Builder thread set.

Yukata cotton measures 14″ to 16″ wide. That means that one yard of this special Japanese textile is less than one third of a yard of standard quilting cotton.

For my one yard, I chose an indigo and white geometric yukata cotton in the hemp pattern. With the unfinished blocks measuring 6.5″, I cut ten blocks out of one yard.

The veins in hemp leaves are stylized in ...

Just an update with a picture from an actual quilt I am working on. XXX Annika Continue reading →

By Patricia Belyea

WAUCONDA WA  On April 13, Jane Sassaman wrote this Instagram post: I have put together a few textile treasure boxes. These are 7 pound layer cakes representing 20 years of my fabric designs for FreeSpirit. Each box is unique and has the equivalent of 20 yards of fabric in fat quarter to half yard cuts. This is an archeological dig through a colorful collection of Sassaman design history. 

For $140, I bought a box of Jane’s goodies. At $7 a yard, it seemed like a brilliant thing to do.

I asked Jane what it was like ...

By Joe Cunningham

SAN FRANCISCO When I started making quilts 40 years ago I learned that there were certain techniques, certain color combinations and certain ways of construction that together constituted “traditional” quiltmaking. The way I understood it was more or less as a set of rules to follow. My mentor, Mary Schafer, dismissed art quilts as a peculiar innovation that was devoid of interest because of their lack of ...

Editor Note: I asked Allison Aller what makes her happy. Allie had lots to say about this topic! PB

By Allison Aller, guest blogger

WASHOUGAL WA  What makes me happy has always been right here at home: I’m a quilter, writer, and gardener—all home-based pursuits.

I began quilting in 1972, studied design in college, and then steadily worked at my sewing machine as an at-home mom for years. I created for my family, my friends, for the sheer bliss of it, but alone and in a vacuum. 

Then, hooray! Blogging began! I began posting about my crazy quilting ...

Several ideas for relatively simple quilts consisting of basic units, (like square HST units and flying geese). If you are looking for 'mindless' chain piecing, check these out! XXX Annika Continue reading →

By Patricia Belyea

WAUCONDA WA  Last week my iron gushed all over a quilt project. The good news—it wasn’t rusty water. The water dried and didn’t leave a stain.

For my workshops and both studios, I’ve bought a bevy of Rowentas—the ones with 400 steam holes and lots of power! I contacted Rowenta Customer Service and asked why my anti-drip Professional model gushed. I learned that the iron was not warmed up to the correct heat. If I had been just a little more patient and waited for the indicator light on the bottom left ...

I have a downloadable EQ8 project file for Willyne Hammerstein's pattern Raindrops Are Falling On My Head (Millefiori 4 book by Quiltmania). Optional Inklingo shapes are also available, check www.inklingo.com! XXX Annika Continue reading →

By Patricia Belyea

WAUCONDA WA  At Okan Arts, our big thing is vintage Japanese yukata cottons. We’re crazy about them!

The luscious hand-dyed cottons inspire us to make out-of-the-ordinary quilts. And we’re thrilled to share our finds with other adventuresome quilters.

Okan Arts sources the cottons from over 30 vendors in Japan—antique shops, vintage warehouses, used kimono shops, and pickers. We select the yukata cottons based on three criteria—the design, the price, and the condition of the 20- to 60-year old fabrics.

This month a 50-pound box of yukata cottons was delivered by Japan Post and ...

By Patricia Belyea

Novel Coronavirus is our new world enemy. As a virus, it thrives only in host bodies. COVID-19 reproduces itself inside the cells of its living hosts. Each infected cell produces thousands of identical copies of the original virus at an exponential rate—keeping COVID-19 alive and spreading. 

No enemy we have faced before has had such superpowers.

This enemy has not come in a spaceship, crashing into our world. Or across an ocean in a submarine, attacking our shores. This invisible disruptor has arrived via family, friends, co-workers, strangers—other humans, just like us.

Why should we ...

By Patricia Belyea

SEATTLE WA  Many of you know that Victoria and I currently use Baby Lock’s Sashiko 2 to finish our quilts. This one-of-a-kind sewing machine lets us quilt our projects by machine to create a hand-stitched look. Victoria sets up the dashed stitch to match my natural hand-stitch length—which allows me to add a little detailed hand stitching to every quilt.

WHAT IS TRADITIONAL SASHIKO STITCHING?
Sashiko, typically a running stitch made with white thread on indigo fabric, translates to little stabs. Used functionally to strengthen worn out clothes or to add bulky warmth to clothing ...

By Paricia Belyea

JAPAN  Daruma just got back from a whirlwind trip with Okan Arts 2020 Tokyo Quilt Festival & Japanese Textile Tour.

The tour started with two days at the Great International Quilt Festival. As much as he appreciated the quilt exhibits, Daruma had lots of fun getting lost in the special exhibits and meeting young people.

When the tour headed to Nippori Fabric Town, Daruma’s favorite shop was River Stone with its vintage kimono, obi, and Japanese fabrics. He wasn’t the only one who got carried away buying the luscious dyed and woven cottons, silks, and wools ...

By Patricia Belyea

TOKYO JP  When I first met Sachiko Yoshida, she was in America. Both Sachiko and Miwako Kimura had brought their students to exhibit their quilts at La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum. The biennial show, in 2012, was organized by Ako Shimozato.

I met the whole crew at a Welcome Dinner full of shy giggles, hosted by SuSan Riedel.

Miwako, Ako, and Sachiko:
Although Sachiko had only met me once, she recognized me two years later at the Tokyo Quilt Festival. Over the din of Opening Day, I could hear a little voice calling out—Patricia, Patricia. What ...

By Patricia Belyea

TOKYO JP Allow me to share detail photos of some of the quilts at this year’s Tokyo Quilt Festival. It’s a delight to be able to get up close to these masterpieces.

To see a post with lots of photos of the quilts and special exhibits +click here

Hello Friends—

If you received an email showing a blog post about Tokyo Quilt Festival with no images, it’s because there are TOO MANY PHOTOS! There ’s so much that I want to show you that I crashed the system.

Here’s a direct link to the story here you can easily see everything: https://okanarts.com/tokyo-quilt-festival-2020

Thanks,
P.

PS That’s me with the talented Susan Briscoe from Scotland.

By Patricia Belyea

TOKYO JP  The International Great Quilt Festival is immense in so many ways—inspiration, excellence, and delight. What I’m sharing with you here is the tip of the needle of what’s displayed in the vast Tokyo Dome.

I do not include the makers of the quilts if their names are only available in Japanese. Note: The quilt featured above is by Miwako Mogami.

competition exhibits

The competitions are open to everyone around the world, especially since the entry forms are now available in English. All the same, most quilts are made by Japanese quilters. The ...

By Patricia Belyea

SEATTLE WA  White space is something designers love. It’s the empty space in a composition that creates a focus, as well as allows the eyes to rest. Typically, as quilters, we fill our quilt tops with non-stop visual delights. And we fill up our time with non-stop busyness.

Last year, I made a decision to create some white space in my life—to focus more on what I love to do and also create more downtime in my fast-paced schedule. I have become intentional in saying no.

Here are some upcoming ways that this decision will ...