10th Annual 'Dome Show'

I dragged myself out to the first Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival in 2002 after a nasty bout with the flu and was nearly overwhelmed at the size of the thing. The next one I was able to attend was 2009. Of course it was bigger and better. In 2010 I was invited to attend the Opening Ceremonies. It was a delight to watch Princess Masako among other dignitaries, cut the ribbon, and then be able to walk into the displays with very few other people just before the doors were opened to the general public. Today I went with a visiting friend, who only had today free, to the second day of this year's Festival. To say it was crowded is a gross understatement. The Dome was packed with quilts and more vendors and people than I've ever seen there. I found myself taking pictures of just a part of a quilt because so many people were in  the way, or of an interesting detail because I was close and there was no space to back up for a long shot.

Banners for IHQ Singapore

The banners I've been working on for about 9 months are complete and waiting to be transported to Singapore. Before you get all excited about how I did the graphics, let me say that they were done by Thai craftspersons - working in batik and silk screening. My job was to get them all to the same size, add the lettering, join with batting and backing, apply the borders and hanging sleeves on the back.

I was working at odd moments between my other jobs and activities, and some of the difficulties required study and thought. Hopefully I got the measurements right and they will fit into the space that has been prepared for them.

I've never been to Singapore, but maybe I'll get there some day. It would be nice to see these installed in their place.

Featured

The latest issue of a Japanese quilting magazine called "Patchwork Tsushin" contains an article written by my quilting teacher about the exhibition her classes had in July. My quilt, "To Everything There Is A Season" is featured. The article is of course written in Japanese. I asked sensei for a translation, and she has promised to type one up for me. What she said it was about is her experiences learning quilting in America and how the process goes beyond sewing pieces of fabric together. She sees a thread, if you will, running through people's lives connecting people of different cultures, experiences and beliefs into one community of quilters. My quilt is a Japanese Memory Quilt and in it I used first, the theme of seasons, relating both the differences in American culture and Japanese, and then some universal elements that tie us all together. The design grew from a very basic idea and involved research and thought into Japanese colors, symbols and methods.