Tuesday 9 November 2010

Cherry Blossom and Maple Leaves

The Oriental Fabrics Competition at Chilford was for a quilt of minimum 24" square and maximum 84" square and include at least 60% Oriental fabrics.  Such a wide brief led to a variety of quilts but I was surprised with how few there were on display.  Here they are:



Secret Rendezvous 
by Elisabeth Green of Worcestershire. 

I took a couple of close up pictures to show the detail of all the applique blossoms and leaves and those wonderful koi.

Kimono
by Christine Davey of Norfolk

This quilt included both hand and machine quilting and I liked the fabrics Christine chose to use.


Madam Butterfly
by Megan Bradfield of Carmarthenshire

This lovely quilt was an "idea" for eighteen months so none of us need to give up on those projects on our to do list.  Megan combined hand applique and quilting in her design which was inspired by books by Suzanne Marshall and Kumiko Sudo.

The Last Samurai
by Susan Briscoe of North Wales

A strong combination of Oriental prints with a Japanese craft panel depicting Samurai armour and quotations from 'The Art of War'.  The design was inspired by narrow Boys' Day banners and the blossoms and leaves contrast with the armour to show the fragility of the warrior's life.  You can read more about the making of this quilt on Susan's blog (at the end of the post).



Geisha Dreams
by Margaret Brett, Kent

This calming quilt is the result of many hours of fussy cutting,  hand applique and hand quilting to create a fantasy maple tree bearing cherry blossom.  Again I took a close up to show the detail.

Of course I had to have a little retail therapy after admiring all the quilts and being inspired.
Euro Japan Links just happened to have a stand at the exhibition and this is what tempted me:
This gorgeous length of fabric.  I bought 2m and am planning ...

A couple of half metre pieces of Japanese cotton fabric that I haven't got in my stash.  Those are hares on the indigo piece.

These folded flowers are going to be appearing everywhere when I get the hang of them.  I bought two as I was thinking "Secret Santa", I wonder who would appreciate them the most?
That wasn't too extravagant was it?  I feel one has to make the most of these opportunities (and there were one or two other purchases on the day which I have put on Online Quilting.)

8 comments:

  1. There's a great kanzashi making section on www.immortalgeisha.com forums - beware, they seem to be addicitive!

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  2. Fabulous quilts with so muc intricate detail. The cherry blossom is amazing and must have taken days and days!
    Teresa x

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  3. Love the photo's Lis! Have a great day!

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  4. What lovely quilts, especially the kimono!
    And your fabrics also look so gorgeous!!
    Thanks so much for sharing!
    Love, Ria.

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  5. Those quilts are spectacular, so much detail and hour and hours of work...so special! Thanks for sharing.

    Like your purchases as well :-)

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  6. This is how to have a trip to Japan while in Japan!

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  7. Thinking about the Oriental Fabric Challenge, there were actually only five quilts even at Malvern. Strange there weren't more entries.

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  8. Lis, a friend of mine is looking for a pattern for a wall hanging on a geisha girl, approximatly 12 inches high. Do you have any suggestions where we could look for one?

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I really appreciate your lovely comments, ideas and opinions, they make my day. Thank you for visiting Piece'n'Peace,
hugs, Lis x