Tag: Japanese quilts

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SAHRR 2025 Round 2: Japanese style quilt

Posted on by Laura Kate

Before I show my work for this round, I want to share a source for Japanese quilting and sewing supplies.

A few years ago, I was interested in learning about sashiko stitching. When it became clear that the necessary supplies and materials for this craft were not available anywhere in my quad-state area, I turn to Etsy and found kimonomomo. Returning to the site this year, I discovered that she carried hundreds of Japanese fabrics which are available in small amounts – fat eights, fat quarters, etc. I chose eight different fabrics which are presently winging their way to me – should arrive on February 3rd. I can’t wait to get my hands on them.

During my preparation of round two, it became very clear that I didn’t have enough fabric to complete the quilt. So in addition to the Japanese fabrics I ordered from Etsy, I bought three cotton solid colors from Hobby Lobby.

Since the color gold is quite prominent in my center paneI, I chose it as a unifying color that would help marry together the different block patterns.

Now on to Round Two: Turning to the Susan Briscoe’s quilt block directory, I discovered two layouts that feature half-square triangles (aka HST.)

Uroko (scales) is an all-over pattern of the HSTs. Yosegi (check frame) features it as a center square. I decide to make two blocks of each.

Starting with Uroko, I quickly sewed, pressed and trimmed all the little HSTs and then cut out the gold fabric for the setting triangles. Sewing together the first block, it was clearly too small. I removed the gold setting triangles, re-cut each piece 1/4 of an inch larger, and tried again. It measured out perfectly.

Turning to Yosegi, I had much less difficulty. The center HST was edged by four strip pieced squares and cornered by four nine-patch blocks. Easy peasy.

And here is my project at the end of Round Two.

I’m so glad I didn’t start sewing the rows together yet. When I added my newest blocks, it was obvious that I needed to change the layout. Alternating the blocks of Round One with Round Two blocks makes for a more pleasing design, IMHO.

To see the other participants’ round 2 blocks, visit Anja @  Anja Quilts

And here is the line-up for the rest of Stay at Home Round Robin 2025

Posted in quilting

SAHRR 2025 Border 1 Japanese style

Posted on by Laura Kate

I wanted to write a bit about the traits of Japanese style quilting compared to Western style quilting, but today’s schedule is a bit tight and the posting deadline is here. I’ll just show a few pictures. Or maybe I’ll use bullet points:

Types of fabric: plain cotton, woven patterns, large and small scale dyed patterns, stencil dyed cottons, silks and wool.

I tried to choose colors that were present in the center block.

From my mother’s stash
From my own stash
A few fabrics purchased from Hobby Lobby

Block categories: patchwork, Sashiko, Kamon (traditional family crests worked as applique or sashiko) and Takarazukushi (good fortune symbols worked in applique.)

Now to the clue: Kathleen suggested King’s Crown pattern for this round, or choose a block that begins with a K, or that begins with the first letter of my name, L. I immediately thought of Log Cabin. But turning to my Japanese block design book, I saw no examples that looked like a log cabin. In studying the block names, I realized that the “L” sound is absent from the Japanese language! Lots of blocks start with a K. I settled on this pattern – Kumiko – which translates to Lattice.

And its construction begins with making four strip-pieced squares built around a center square. Hm, that resembles the beginning of a log cabin.

And here is my first block for Border One.

I ended up making three blocks, which I plan to place just below the center block row.

And so the first round is done, and my post written before the Linky party closes.

I see that my chosen path will hold much challenge if I stick to the plan.

If you want to follow along with Stay at Home Round Robin, here are the hosts and the weekly schedule. Check out their posts!

Posted in quilting

SAHRR 2025 – yes, I’m participating

Posted on by Laura Kate

After telling myself that I had too many projects going at the same time I had decided that adding SAHRR to the mix would not be a good idea. Then I changed my mind. What’s this all about, you may ask?

After my mother had a stroke, I assisted my sisters in cleaning out my mother’s crafting room and disposing of the contents. One project bag contained some intriguing fabric panels depicting Japanese geishas. I took these home.

There are four in all. She also had various bits of Japanese quilting fabric, including cotton fat quarters and some lengths of yellow silk.

I became enamored with the idea of making a Japanese-style quilt, to the point that I bought a few books to learn how.

So, getting back to SAHRR. I decided that my center block could be one panel.

I worked on it a little to get its dimension down to 11 and 1/2 inches. My plan is to make a row-style quilt that will be suitable for turning into a kimono-style robe. I’ll match up each week’s clue to one or more block patterns from this book.

All the blocks are designed to finish out at 9 inches. This plan could be a good work-out for my problem solving skills.

And when I am finished, I will have something made with my mother’s fabric selections, to remind me of how much she loved to sew.

To see the SAHRR 2025 participants’ center blocks, click here.

Posted in quilting

In Progress: Pieced Landscape Art Quilt

Posted on by Laura Kate

Today I’m catching up on the abstract landscape quilt that I started in mid-May:

Obsessed by Strips

I would say nothing has changed, but I would be lying. During the planning phase, I started to think about Japanese quilts – most likely because I recently purchased two books on modern Japanese quilting by Susan Briscoe. She is a textile artist who worked in Japan for many years as an English teacher. In her book, Japanese Quilt Blocks to mix and match, she features 125 patchwork, applique and sashiko blocks in a modern style that is inspired by tradition. Textiles recycled from kimonos and other garments give the blocks an Asian look.

Consequently, I decided that my original plan was not abstract enough. I discarded the house block already constructed and made one using the Japanese block called Sunken Hearth.

In fact, I made two hearth blocks – one in bold colors for the middle ground and one in faded pastels for the background. This second block is located half-way up the mountain in the foggy part of the landscape.

I redrew the upper right corner of the design from clouds into a mountain. You could think of it as Mt. Fuji. The fabric is a white-on-white print of spirals, suggestive of clouds to me.

As of today, I am about 2 thirds finished with the piecing phase. I have completed four rows out of seven.

By the way, I have a new favorite tool:

This flexible flat-bottomed shape is a technical drawing tool that belongs to Bill. He got it back in his college days for a class. Using this tool, I can match up a long curve which crosses over two different blocks. I Love it.

One more Japanese touch will be added to the lower right corner. In the reference photograph, there is a group of red-twigged shrubs behind a stone wall. I plan to use the Pieced Ogi, aka Folding Fan, to abstract this feature.

Are you making something from your scraps? Do share.