New classes, modern house quilt blocks, and A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 9 - final (陽子斉藤)

Well, for those of you who guessed that I couldn't last that long doing a post every single day...you were right. I am WAY too busy for that sort of thing. What was I ever thinking?!

Ok so enough with the Yoko A Day, I'm done, I'm throwing in the towel. It was fun while it lasted, but jeez I just cannot do a post every day.

At the end of this post I'm including info on all the other books Yoko Saito has ever written, that I know of, that I own. There is one more out there that I don't own yet, but...I have the feeling that ugly little situation may not continue for long. If you know of the existance a book by Yoko Saito that I haven't listed in a recent post, pls do let me know so I can look into that.

In other news, I am teaching a few new classes up at A Verb For Keeping Warm. (yeah!) The first one is a machine quilt-along this coming Sunday, where folks can join and work on their in-progress projects. I am also booked for teaching some introduction to quilting classes in October. Join us if you live locally, it will be good fun.

We will be working on more applique this Sunday at Verb in the modern house applique class too. I'm using Japanese Taupe fabrics in the block this month again, as you can tell in the block above.

On to the final info about Yoko Saito Books: (if you seriously read the rest of this, I give you a gold star)
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Yoko Saito: 9th book review

Title: (unfortunately, your guess is better than mine on this one, could not figure it out although there is some more info here...I'll bet that Julie knows!!)

ISBN: 978-4-14-031126-4

Summary: Items are made out of triangle and square pieces. Projects in this book are not super complex, and there is not a lot of applique. That said, this is probably the best of all her books in terms of showing you methods used for hand piecing, and tools used. Photos are great so you can really understand what is going on (even w/ zero understanding of Japanese - trust me on this, I should know).

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Yoko Saito: 10th book review


Title: From American Patchwork Bed Quilts to Bags
ISBN: 4-14-031079-0

Summary: Small bags, and bed quilts, as the title says, but also backpacks. My favorite project is the bed quilt on p.43 called Farmer's Bowknot which is a signature quilt. Nice photos of how to make applique grapes on p.59.

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Yoko Saito: 11th book review



Title: Free Patterns (I think?)
ISBN: 4-579-11080-3

Summary: You know I love applique, and this book is really full of it. If applique is not your cup of tea, feel free to skip this one. For me, the photos are amazing, the projects are stunning, and I could see myself easily making each and every last one of them. Bags, small quilts, sewing box on p.22 is amazing, this is probably the most beautiful of all her books. Usage of french knots, just amazing.
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Yoko Saito: 12th book review


Title: 138 Original Applique Designs by Yoko Saito
ISBN: 978-4-529-04331-1

Summary: This is the other book that she has written that I would give 'MUST HAVE' status to, and it is in my top 5 list of favorite quilt books. These tiny block patters include botanicals, halloween, more robots, a portrait of Mozart (wow), another alphabet (yeah!), and a myriad of other adorable blocks. This one is worth the bookshelf space.
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Yoko Saito: 13th book review



Title:Study Book for Taupe Color
ISBN:978-4-86322-130-7

Summary: This book is limited to bags with a mix of applique and pieced quilting in different projects. I believe there is some extensive discussion around which taupe colors go well with other ones, but since my Japanese reading skills are lacking, this is a slightly less valuable book to somebody like me. It's still beautiful though and some of the bag patterns could easily be turned into wall hangings or quilts.
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Yoko Saito: 14th book review



Title: Walking the Green Quilt (??Seriously? don't trust me on this title please!)
ISBN: 978-4-14-031160-8

Summary: This book is a compilation of blocks that were released monthly in a Japanese Woman's magazine put out by NHK. It is really a handy place to have them all together in this book. These patterns are all botinicals, applique, and pretty detailed. Not for the faint of heart!
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Yoko Saito: 15th book review


Title: 120 Original Embroidery Designs by Yoko Saito
ISBN: 978-4-529-04653-4

Summary: Ok ok, I know I said that there were only 2 'must have' books, but if I could squeeze a 3rd one it, this would be it. I am not a huge fan of embroidery but there is a god mix of applique in here too (and thank goodness, also another alphabet). If you love embroidery, this book is for you. If you don't, it might not be your favorite book, but where else can you find an embroidery pattern for an ant farm?!
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Yoko Saito: 16th book review


Title: Yoko Saito's Scandinavian Quilts
ISBN:978-4-14-031153-0

Summary: Quilt designs inspired by Scandinavia - need I say more? Bags and small household items mostly. Lots of applique.
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Yoko Saito: 17th book review


Title: Patchwork Lessons
ISBN: 4-579-10697-0

Summary: Small projects, bags, and even a larger sawtooth star quilt on p.73 that looks like it would be fun to make. lots of great photos of 'how to' quilting techniques.
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Yoko Saito: 18th book review


Title: Patchwork Lessons 2
ISBN: 4-579-10759-4

Summary: Of her Lesson(s) books, this is my favorite one. The photos are beautiful, and there are some very detailed projects. My favorites are the acorn pillow on p.55, and the insane pine burr feathered star on p.77.
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Yoko Saito: 19th book review


Title: Patchwork Lessons 3
ISBN: 978-4-579-10892-3

Summary: small projects, bags, some applique, lots of embroidery. Best project here is probably p.53 - applique whale bag.
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Yoko Saito: 20th book review


Title: Patchwork Lesson
ISBN: 978-579-11174-9

Summary: Mostly hand piecing with a small amount of applique. Good technique photos including working with zippers, cute laundry line applique on p.35.
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Ok, DONE!

Whump! Marisa thuds on the floor from exhaustion after finishing 20 book reports and breaking all records of her longest blog post ever (after 580 posts, you would think I might have learned some self control, apparently not).

The crowd cheers with a standing ovation for the most complete list of Yoko Saito books ever mentioned on the entire internet! I wonder if Yoko Saito herself remembers writing all these books.

Quilt Shopping in Tokyo: Quilt Party - Yoko Saito's Shop

Quilt Party is perhaps my favorite shopping stop of the trip.  This should not surprise you if you read my blog regularly, since I'm perhaps Yoko Saito's biggest fan.

Getting there is something like a 40 min train ride from Shinjuku station with a very short walk from where the train stops, only really a block or so.

There is a small sign in front of the shop that will guide you inside.  It looks like this:

It was a big thrill for me to finally see a Yoko Saito quilt in person.  I have seen this quilt in photos many times before but standing in front of it was so much more moving than I was expecting.

The ladies who work at the shop were extremely helpful and although their English was not completely fluent, they were excited that I was visiting there and they put 110% of their efforts into helping me and communicating with me.  It was very special.  I told them I felt like it was my birthday or something because visiting the shop was such a long-time dream of mine.

I was not there to pick up a lot of fabric, but I could not resist a few small pieces.  They have a big area of small cuts where pieces are slightly less than fat quarters in size, but they are arranged by color, and a lot of them I have never seen in the U.S. for sale. 

There was one very small item that caught my eye for several reasons.

It was a coin purse:

I could not figure out how you could cross stitch on top of quilt fabric.  The shop manager introduced me to some plastic cross stitch mesh that you lay over any quilting fabric, make your stitches, and then remove later with tweezers.  Brilliant!  This stuff allows you to basically cross stitch a small motif or an initial pretty much anywhere.  I used to love cross stitch, and doing a small bit of it to personalize something sounded like a lot of fun to me.

Here's a view of the inside.  There is a zipper that goes all the way around, and there are plastic 'button' pieces inside both of the clamshells.  I got supplies to make a couple.  

I have been collecting books of Yoko Saito's student works for years and was still missing several of them.  I found the ones I was missing while I was here, so that was a big treat.

You can see the latest released book third from the right in the book stacks on the shelf below:

More on the works of Yoko Saito in previous posts I have done here (including info on her books).  

If you end up in Tokyo, it won't be a waste of your time to visit her shop, that's for sure!

Contact info here.  

Address:  272-0034 Active Ichikawa 2F, 1-23-2 Ichikawa, Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture

Walking directions from Ichikawa Station in comments on Quincy's Big Adventure blog post here.

Japanese Quilting Piece by Piece: Yoko Saito in English

It is unusual that I am this excited about a book.  I have been waiting for this one in my heart for perhaps more than 10 years. 

Was it worth the wait?  What do you think.

What:  "Japanese Quilting Piece by Piece"

By:  Yoko Saito (my favorite!)

ISBN:  978-1-59668-858-2 published by Interweave press. 


Juicy Details:  This book consists of 29 projects.  Methods used are mostly hand piecing and hand applique although you could at times find a machine handy for some of the bag construction.

I have not seen this book published in Japanese, rather it seems like a collection of 'greatest hits' from some of her Japanese publications.  I like the selection that was chosen.

Many are bags, some are small wall quilts.  There is also an apron, and some smaller items like sewing kits and thread holders.

On the back cover there is mention that she has an exhibit called the Yoko Saito Quilt Exhibition at the Matsuya department store in Ginza.  AAAhhh!!!  How did I not visit this when I was in Tokyo recently!!!   This is on my short list for next time.

It would take a long time to start at the beginning of this book and make all the projects in it.  I am thinking a couple of the bags would be a good place to start. 

Fold out patterns are monster huge.  Some of the designs need to be enlarged by 200%.



How to get it:  I just ordered it online

Ok, end of my book report.  I'll leave you with this:  It's Yoko Saito, it's in English, it's beautiful, inspirational, and your collection of quilt books probably won't be complete without it.




In other news:
I picked up some vintage Libbey Frosted Gold Leaf Glasses on Etsy:  cheap thrill, makes you feel either like you're in the Mad Men TV show, or that you're a kid again if you're old like me.

I've also had enough of my ear buds getting tangled up.  If I can muster the energy, I may knit some eye cord around them as show on Wonderfully Awkward.

Thinking of knitting some supertiny vampire bat toys.  Gosh only a couple more days before Halloween.

Blocking a knit dress for my tiny-niece.  Photos of it as soon as it's dry!  You'll have to let me know if it came out as cute as the one made by Posey Gets Cozy.

120 Original Embroidery Designs by Yoko Saito

It's rare that I would actually run (not walk) to a book store to get a copy of a book, but this is one of those times.

Today I got my copy of 120 Original Embroidery Designs by Yoko Saito and it literally blew my socks off.

ISBN978-4-529-04653-4 for those of you who just HAVE to get your own copy. I special ordered it from Kinokuniya and they got it for me within one week!

Not since I picked up Ms. Saito's Taupe Applique book have I been this excited.

In this book Yoko Saito combines quilted applique and piecing techniques along with embroidery details to create projects that are out of this world.

Themes are beautifully represented in various motifs including numbers, alphabet, musical notes, botanicals, a desk top tape dispenser (adorable - go figure!), and the cutest little airplane you've ever seen. Of course final projects are purses, and small boxes, but patterns could be used on any quilt you can imagine.

Need I mention again that I'm in LOVE with this book?

Oh, and to top off this incredible week, I won a quilt kit over at Kathie's blog, which I have mentioned before - Inspired by Antique Quilts. Having never won anything before, I'm really walking on clouds. I think they are taupe-colored ones!

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 7 (陽子斉藤)

Title: 156 Original Patchwork Designs by Yoko Saito
ISBN: 4-529-04188-3

Summary: Let me start by saying that there are 2 Yoko Saito books that you MUST have in your library, and this is one of those two. This includes 156 block patterns that you will find to be unique, beautiful, and if you're anything like me, you may get the urge to make every last one of them. Some of the blocks you may have seen before, but most are quite unique. She does assemble some of the blocks into small zipper bags. P51 has the coolest little robot I've ever seen on it complete with propeller on top of his head. There are animals, bugs, botanicals, geometric designs, stars, another pieced alphabet (yeah!!!). If you don't have this book, please do yourself and huge favor and get a copy. It's going to be WELL worth your bookshelf space. I hate to pick favorites, but this is in my top 5 quilt books of all time.

Yoko Saito book bliss

My book by Yoko Saito on taupe quilting and Sweden has finally arrived!

I don't spend a lot of time taking photos of books, but this time I just could not resist. The book is cover to cover filled with projects, all 100% of them using Japanese taupe fabrics, including small wall quilts, bags, and even 3D stuffed horses, believe it or not.

A must have for your collection if you're a Yoko Saito wanna be (I'm her biggest fan!).

ISBN978-4-14-031153-0

Also, if you have not seen the dresses that Mari of MariRob blog made yet (from Purl Soho Japanese imported fabric, of course) please check out her post and tell her how beautiful she looks.

Meanwhile I'm dreaming of a day when I can fit into non-maternity clothes. ps. I cannot afford those jeans in case you're wondering. Oh, thank goodness that happy day is becoming more and more near. Something tells me it's going to sneak up on me.

Gifts from afar - Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2010 and Yoko Saito

The other day, I went to my mailbox to pick up a package sent to me by Foong Ming.

She is a quilter, a reader of my blog, and happened to also be going to the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival last January.

Inside of the package were two books that she got there for me.

The first one is a catalog of all the winning quilts at the Tokyo quilt show. This publication is amazing and beautiful. Each of the quilts is a work of art and the photos are just stunning. I have always wanted to attend this show, and now I feel like I have been there. So very cool.

The second book is by Yoko Saito, called "Daily Quilt" - ISBN978-4-529-04780-7.

I was looking through this book, drooling all over the amazing taupe quilted item patterns. If you don't have this book it really is worth adding to your library.

While I was reading, thinking how sweet Foong Ming was to send these to me, I saw the first page of the book.

She had it SIGNED and ADDRESSED TO ME!!! by none other than the famous YOKO SAITO!!!

At this point I almost fainted, ran and showed it to my husband, and I'm now calling this book my favorite book in my entire collection.

Thanks again Foong Ming. You rock! Sending a virtual hug your way...all the way from California to Singapore.

Quilting Videos: Yoko Saito vs. Liberty of London

Would You Rather see a video by Yoko Saito about hand quilting, or a video about all the amazing artists that design fabric for Liberty of London?

I couldn't decide, so I watched (and loved) both:

Does anybody out there already have Yoko Saito's book called Floral Bouquet Quilt?  (I think that's the title anyhow...)  Check out this cute video of her on her site talking about some patterns in the book and watch as she demo's her method of hand quilting.  She doesn't use a hoop which I think is very interesting. 

In the Liberty of London video you can hear a bit about how the designers work as they create these amazing (*warning* and addicting) fabrics.

Have you tried the Quilter's Dream batt in wool?  I love their cotton bats, so low loft, so easy to quilt through.  I'm really interested to check out this stuff.  It looks a bit like it might be on the thick side though...hard to tell from a photo, but there is one up on Purl Soho.

The above blossoms were hanging over my side of the fence in my yard.  That makes them my property, right?  Considering they are now in my kitchen...they certainly are!  Let's hear it for the sakura.

Yoko Saito - Quilt Party

I'm sad to say that when contacting a Japanese exporting company in hopes of finding copies of Yoko Saito's Quilt Party books, they said they are no longer available in Japan.

It makes me want to grab a ticket to the Tokyo Dome show in January, and ask her myself what I have to do to scrounge up a copy. Of course, I want copies of all 7 issues that have come out for the last 7 years.

Well, I'm not giving up yet, but anyhow, it's a decent challenge that's for sure.

In other news, I snapped up a used Yoko Saito book from Ebay for $5 US, so I guess it's not all bad.

Fabric from above is probably going to be a little bag or something...it's flocked. Can you wash such a thing? I doubt it.

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 6 (陽子斉藤)

Title: Yoko Saito and Kids (I think?, your guess is probably as good as mine on this one!)
ISBN: 978-4-86322-084-3

Summary: Super cute kids quilts, including another alphabet quilt (my fav!), a log cabin baby quilt, Jack and the Beanstalk applique kids quilt, some redwork, on p.21, my favorite kids quilt by Ms. Saito - it has trees, houses, but an awesome road that you could use to run your toys all along. I have had several requests in my household to make this quilt. Mobile, backpack, kids hat, paper pieced ducky, place mat, bibs, p48 has instructions for this block that has 4 pieces in it...an unusual block but a very pretty one. I would consider paper piecing this (of course Ms. Saito hand pieces it).

Dear Yoko Saito

I made block "F6" from the Dear Hannah quilt pattern using Japanese taupe fabrics.

Maybe I should call this quilt Dear Yoko instead of Dear Hannah. Do you think that Ms. Saito would approve of my use of taupe colors? I sure do hope so. I'm in love with little taupe applique blocks.

I'll be making another similar block for my sister's wedding quilt (which she will be lucky to receive on her 10th wedding anniversary at this rate! sorry sis - eek!).

It's starting to look very Christmas-y around here, and the kids can smell the closeness of Santa's arrival. We are still counting days instead of hours which is perhaps the only blessing there.

Mona, a friend from Singapore, visited the Yokohama quilt show and mailed me the catalog. Thank you so much Mona. Those quilts just blew my socks off. I'll have to photograph my favorite page for you or something.

She sent me Yoko Saito's business card with her email address on there. I sent her some fan email, but she has yet to invite me to lunch with her. I'm sure that will happen eventually.

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 8 (陽子斉藤)

Title: Daily Quilt
ISBN: 978-4-529-04780-7

Summary: small bags, mostly with applique on them, small quilts, medium quilts - some pieced, some with applique. wall hangings, spools quilt, holiday items...some of the items look similar to projects published in day 5 of my posting about Ms. Saito's books. Cream Corn quilt on p.30 is probably my favorite thing in this book. My copy is signed by Yoko Saito herself, due to a generous blog reader. How special is that!

A Yoko A Day: Yoko Saito Quilt books - day 1 (陽子斉藤)

They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.

At the end of the summer, what could I do to spice things up and get out of the back to school funk?

How about kicking off 'A Yoko A Day'!

For the next (insert a number here) days, I'll be posting a daily blog post about a quilt book that Yoko Saito has written.

I'll be including the ISBN, and a brief summary about topics covered.

Think I can continue this for the rest of August? How many of her books do you think I have? Will I make it into Sept? Guesses out there hot shots?

Woo hoo...here we go!

Title: Basket Made From Cloth
ISBN: 978-4-579-11275-3

Summary:This book is basically about small quilted bags with a couple of small quilts, one medium sized quilt, and other small items like a needle holder and sort of a sewing box. The book includes a very large fold out pattern in the back with applique designs that are very pretty and could be used basically for any project. The handbag on p.19 is probably my favorite project, just stunning.

Japanese Quilt: Yoko Saito's Traditional Patchwork Lessons & Taupe Fabric

When I was flipping through the pages of Yoko Saito's Traditional Patchwork Lessons book, I ran into a super traditional flower basket quilt pattern.


This pattern has probably around for more than a hundred years, but when I saw it in the Japanese taupe fabrics I decided to go for it and make a small wall hanging.



I had some pre-cut squares from Pinwheels and put them together into 4 blocks.  Two very high contract blocks, one low contrast one, and another with different amounts of contrast but using mostly reds and pinks.

I'm happy with how it turned out and now I need to plan the quilting.


Thoughts and ideas on how to quilt this little wall quilt? 

Getting to know Yoko Saito, in English!

I finally finished quilting the funky quilt that I made using antique blocks. The blocks were made around 1890. I set them with some modern repro-ish looking fabrics, and quilted away. The blocks look like they have arrows in them and with the feathered quilting inside I'm thinking of calling the quilt "Feathered Arrows".

My thoughts on binding are that maybe a cute and funky print would really spice it up even further. Susan agrees it's a good idea.

Susan, one on the knit nite girls, has an incredible sewing bag that she created completely from Japanese taupe fabrics. Drop over and check her blog out if you have time, her work is 100% perfect and beautiful.

And speaking of Japanese taupes, Yoko Saito just launched her Japanese quilting web site in English. WOW is really all I can say about it. It's so great to learn about her, her quilting, and all of her new fabrics and books (finally without some funky babelfish translator). Thanks Mona for passing the link along!

My favorite page of this web site is the Catalog of Student Work publications that comes out every year. It's an awesome collection of photos of all the quilts her students made that year. I have a couple of these, but not all of them. If shipping were not so expensive, I think I would order the couple I'm missing.

Hand Quilting: Beads and more Yoko Saito...in English!

Natalie Chanin's hand applique work often includes beads.

I have tried using them here and there on small projects, but I have it in my mind to try and make a larger garment with them all over it.  Either a tank top or a skirt probably.  I have ordered some of the beads from her site and starting to play around with them a bit.

One of the tricks is finding a needle small enough to get them on there but also with a large enough eye to get the thick button craft thread through it.  A delicate balance for sure.

Jennifer from See How We Sew blog recently alerted me to a give away she hosted some time back for Yoko Saito's new book.  It's quite rare to run into a publication by her in English, so I'm excited to get a copy of it.  it's called House Warming Patchwork.  Looks like you can already order it online.

Not sure I can wait for Santa to get my own copy of it!  ;)

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2010

Raise your hand if you're going to the Tokyo Dome quilt show this year!

Ok, so I'm not raising my hand.

Not for lack of interest, but with a baby in the house, travel to Japan is not in the cards for me this year. (tear rolls down cheek)

What is one to do with no ticket to Tokyo?

Sit around the house and cry all weekend? Dream of all those awesome taupe quilts and handmade quilts that I won't get to see in person? Start eating boxes of chocolate in a fit of sorrow while contemplating missing a chance to meet Yoko Saito in person? Invite all my quilting friends over to feel bad for me?

No, no no no no! We shall have none of that.

Lucky for me (and you, if you aren't going either) there are a small handful of extremely generous quilters who visit the show and post their photos online.

Both Jennifer of Moving Hands blog and Alex of Moonstitches have posted some of the best photo collections I could find in past years.

Looks like Jennifer is going this year. Please check out her amazing blog Moving Hands, it is really one of the most beautiful out there. I have said it before, but her hand quilting is amazing and her color pallet is beautiful.

If you plan to go to the Tokyo Dome and share photos with us, pls do leave a comment so I can pass along links to the rest of the folks.

Oh, and the book in the last post that I did is Quilt Party - Yoko Saito's catalog of student work from 2008. It contains 81 pages of full color, full length photos of her student's taupe quilts. Some would call this sort of publication 'quilt porn'. I call it a little slice of heaven.

Yoko Saito

If there is one quilter that is famous, that I would love to meet and take classes from, I think it is Yoko Saito.

Her books, her taupes, her style....I really admire all of it.

This picture is from my good friend who lives in Japan and has the opportunity to see some really amazing examples of her work in person.

I think I could look at her quilts all day long.

Some more interesting pictures of the Tokyo Dome show this year were posted by folks on Flickr.

Quilts Japan #124 - the Yoko Saito issue

I cannot help but do a quick post about the issue of Quilts Japan that I just picked up.

It's issue #124, September 2008, and is completely packed with photos of the work of Yoko Saito (including cover shot). All of her work is done with Japanese taupe fabrics.

Patterns include bags, table cover, place mats, tea cozy in shape of cat, book covers, bed quilts, wall quilts, lamp cover, and even a cover for your house keys.

Could this be my most favorite issue ever? It's up there, for sure.

Cannot live without an issue of your own? Call Kinokuniya and subscribe!! They are willing to mail out subscriptions, which I think is very cool.

p.s. no baby yet!

Japanese crafting - Yoko Saito's new book: Taupe Color Study

Ms. Yoko Saito has of course done it again by putting together a beautiful book on the use of taupe fabrics in quilting. In case you are looking for a copy of it: ISBN978-4-86322-130-7 Study Book for Taupe Colour.

This book is full of small projects, mostly little bags. I love it and would use many of the patterns in either full sized quilts as blocks or in small wall hangings or quilts.

I'm still cookin' along, making little signature quilt blocks...slowly but surely. My boys both fell asleep at the same time for about 30 min today so I was feverishly sewing away. I'm trying to batch process about 35 blocks at the same time.

Will post a photo of them once I get some more assembled.

In other news, I'm addicted to this band Mates of State. Are you a fellow addict? Yes, it is embarrassing that they did an Orange County (the TV show) song but they do rock seriously.

I just ordered the new Mates of State album from Amazon along with a boat load of "just corn". Who knew little boys would eat unlimited quantities of veggies if only you freeze dry them?! Go figure.