Reflections on Japan: through the eyes of a quilter

I have said many good things about Japan already, and of course encourage you to visit there.

A few parting thoughts from my trip there before I turn my eye back to the projects at hand (hand quilting the baby quilt!!), and the current creative irons I have in the fire here in the California bay area....

Japanese Candy: web link

Very close to the famous knife shop Aritsugu (in Nishiki Market, Kyoto), there is a candy shop that sells all sorts of amazing hard sugar candies.  They have the most delicate flavor on earth and are a real treat.  I am not sure what the name of the shop is since all their signs were in Japanese only.  

The flavor is ever so slightly cherry and maybe vanilla too.  Anyhow, if you figure out how to get more of these over the mail, I'd love some.  It's probably likely I'll have to go back and find more on my next trip.  Their sticks are so tiny!  It feels almost civilized to eat one in public as an adult.

Yuzawaya in Kichijoji:

I had been to Yuzawaya here about five years ago, and although the train station is the same, the physical location of the store has been changed.

I didn't realize that initially and I was wandering around inside of the shop wondering if I was it a different, smaller version of the store I had been to before.

I would say it is still worth a visit, but it is closer to the U.S. version of JoAnn's fabrics, vs. a shop dedicated to quilting.  

They had some very unique items though, so certainly worth a look around.

I liked the 'made for Japan only' Liberty of London fabrics with Hello Kitty motifs.  They were so adorable and happy, I got a couple of very small cuts of them.

I also liked the 'tie-dye' looking fabrics meant for Hawaiian quilting.  I have always wanted to play around with those, so I got enough to make two or three blocks.

The Red Thread blog has a great post on how to get to their new location.

Tokyo Tree:  I tried to get tickets in advance so that we could check it out, but it was sold out for many months.  This is on my list of places to visit next time.

 

Felted Pumpkin - world's tiniest pin cushion

I created this supertiny felted pin cushion for my friend Marianne, who met me at PIQF again this year.

She knitted THE most adorable booties on earth for our new baby...picture coming soon...and was a complete sweetheart about walking around the show at the snail's pace that characterizes somebody traveling with an infant.

I'm a felting addict now...I'm going to have to make more of these tiny pin cushions.

In the spirit of making my house a complete messy wreck, I spread out the blocks for my sister's baby's quilt again, and am feverishly working on them whenever both boys fall asleep at the same time. That isn't often, but I am making progress here and there. It makes me happy to do anything creative lately.

So is everybody out there as addicted to Etsy as I am? Who are your favorite sellers? Please do share them with me! Here are a few of mine:

Sonatine: Japanese 'cute' fabric
Chocolate Swirl: Mostly Japanese craft books, but other goodies too.
Matatabi: Cute fabrics as well, Love this apple one.
Pippijoe: Adorable fabrics, I have not ordered from here yet, but would love to.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

My husband is up on a ladder right now putting up our Christmas lights. I cannot wait to see them in their full night-time glory.

Yesterday we visited Redwood city, as they trucked a couple tons of snow in for the California kids to experience "snow".

My son finally wore this little crochet hat that I made him last year, he loved it actually, so that was a nice surprise. Many snowballs were launched, and fun was had by all, including soggy me.

The taupe quilt for my mom below was mostly from a pattern book from Kumiko Fujita - ISBN4-579-11078-1. Kinokuniya can order this for you. Purl has a different book for sale by her.

The rest of the little blocks were from Elly's new smaller baltimore album book. Also a very nice resource book.

Japanese Fabric Collection

My fabric collection is one of my most beloved tools.

I put a lot of time and energy into finding just the right tones, textures and colors so that the next project will push my creative limits and become something beautiful.

A lot of quilters call their fabric collection a "stash" and I'm not sure I like the sound of that.

"Stash" - sounds like some disease you should have treated, or a bad habit of filling up your spare bedroom with items you will never use or need.

My fabric is my 'collection', and my tool to create what I love. I'm thrilled to have such a well stocked arsenal.

Where do I end up looking for fabric these days? Here's my top 5 shops (this week at least!).

1) http://www.azabu-ya.com/
The above fabric was purchased from this shop

2) http://www.purlsoho.com/
Love their Japanese section

3) http://www.superbuzzy.com/
Not sure what type of fabric this is called but for lack of a better description "Japanese cute" is probably pretty close. Shop owners have excellent selection.

More Japanese cute is here, but these guys don't ship to the states.

4) http://www.reprodepot.com/
Adorable fabrics, very nice customer service, awesome.

5) http://www.quiltessentials.com/
Material Poessessions - quilt shop near where my mom and sister live, they have a great taupe collection in their shop (I don't buy online here, I do it in person).

Got some other links for me? Please let me know!!

Japanese Quilting in Southern California

Last weekend we drove down to LA for the wedding of an old and dear friend.

Correction, I should say that my husband drove us down and back. The truth is that I usually help out with the 7 hr drive, but this time he did the entire thing by himself. Gee, thanks honey!

Anyhow, on the way there, I read this totally cute new Japanese quilting book that I got. It included a little project with yo-yo's, and a bit of sashiko too. It was a little placemat thingy.

I decided to make a mini version of it, probably to make into a pin cushion or something small like that.

This book has some cathedral windows quilts in it too, that are using linen for the background fabrics. Really pretty.

On the way to the wedding, we stopped at BookOff, a used Japanese book shop, and looked for used quilting books. I found a few. Nothing super special, but prices were right, so I adopted a couple of thick books with block patterns. Worth it to stop in if you're in that neck of the woods.

Quilts Japan, Patchwork Quilt Tsushin, and sister visit

I'm just counting the moments until my little sister arrives. She and her husband will visit us for the weekend.

She made this block for me, her applique is awesome.

Ok, so the post you've all been waiting for....

So you wanna subscribe to Quilts Japan? or Patchwork Quilt Tsushin? Frankly, I don't blame you. I have subscriptions to both.

If you live in the U.S. - here's what you do:

1) Call Kinokuniya (408) 252-1300
2) Ask them to subscribe you for $75 + $30 shipping (current cost 9/2007)
3) Visit your mailbox expectantly every day

The $105 includes 6 issues. If my calculator works thats $17.50/issue.

If you're in Europe, I think you can go here and get some help to order them.

Oh, and 1 more thing...if you like my below post of fabric from Repro Depot, I also encourage you to also visit the "sale" section at Super Buzzy right now.

These fabrics are on SALE!!! and they support 1/2 yd cuts....thanks Kelly for the head's up!

Good to know there are so many options for us Japanese fabric junkies! Cheers to Super Buzzy and Repro Depot!! Can I sign over my entire paycheck?