A New Week

It's Monday again, funny how those keep coming around with regularity. I've just spent the morning and half of the afternoon catching up on admin work for Serve Japan.  I will soon head for home on my bike. Once there I will put the cover on it because they are predicting rain for the next two days. (Some of my joints confirm that forecast.)

I sent a newsletter email out a little while ago with a link to a video recently put together by OMF and open to anyone to distribute.  The pictures were taken in the last week or two and permission was obtained to use a Twila Paris song to enhance the theme.  If you haven't yet, take a look at it: http://vimeo.com/22420842

I took more pictures over the weekend, but haven't resolved the online storage issues.  I hope to do so soon. This past Sunday event was a walk to the Yawata section of Ichikawa City to see a small quilt exhibition by the students of a local quilt teacher who is a former student of my quilt teacher.  There were some interesting pieces and some really nice hand bags.  Photos some day soon.  stay tuned. 

We had lots of wind last Friday and sun over the weekend, so the blossoming trees mostly are now showing their new leaves and the Fuji (Wisteria) are getting ready for their show which always comes in the wake of the Cherry Blossom season and is somewhat overshadowed by it.  The Kanji for wisteria is a part of my surname in Japanese, so it holds it's own special place in my heart.

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.

Yokohama Quilt Week 2010

You might notice a new slide show running to the right.  These are pictures of  yesterday's trip to Yokohama for the annual quilt show sponsored by Patchwork Tsushin magazine. My quilting sensei tells me that this show is older than the Tokyo Dome show and before the Dome Show was the biggest in Japan. Why it's called a week when it's only held for three days only seems to trouble native English speakers.

The trip by train from Ichikawa takes around an hour. The venue was  where the APEC Conference was held recently - a huge Convention Center complete with a view of the harbor, shopping mall and amusement park rides. Everything looks really neat and clean - lots of glass and stainless steel.

Many of the quilts were unavailable for photographs, but I was able to shoot some quilts that really caught my eye. I also got photos of a couple vendors that attracted my attention. One was the booth of Su Designs which has materials for Korean Pojagi and embroidery. I had a nice chat with the proprietress, and saw examples of some amazing work.

Another area was set aside for the work of women on an island in the Philippines where a Japanese woman has gone to teach them to quilt. She brings their work to shows like this and sells the quilts and returns the money to the quilters.

Japanese quilters are truly amazing.

If you would like to see the pictures one at a time with captions, all you need to do is put your mouse pointer on the picture and click. This should take you to Picasa where my photos are stored. You can view my other pictures as well.  Click around on the tabs and see where it takes you. Happy viewing.

Comments are always welcome!