Gallery - Asian Inspired
A number of my quilts are inspired by my life in Japan.
Tobu
I've enjoyed revisiting blue and white quilts but with a different
inspiration. This piece features indigo blue fabrics, including a Japanese shibori fabric.
The
central piece was purchased and I enhanced it with the kanji "Tobu". Tobu means "to fly". Layout based on concepts I learned from Judy Hopkins'
Design Your Own Quilts (out of print). Machine pieced, machine appliqued, machine
quilted, 18 inches by 24 inches. Quilt in
private collection.
Essence of Fan
With my friends, we cut up a photo I took when I lived in Japan and
made our own fabric interpretation. Each member of the group was
free to use whatever technique they wanted in making their section. 54 inches by 36 inches. Variety of techniques. Displayed at the Greenbelt Courthouse February - March 2008.
Notecards of this piece are available.
Spring Dreams
It took me a number of years before I was ready to make this piece. In part I was not sure I could convey the beauty of spring Iris blooming in their glory, surrounded by the greens of Spring. I love purple and I love iris. I hope to revisit this theme.
Essence
I have admired Kumiko Sudo's designs. Kumiko is
a Japanese quilter living in the States. My sense of color and
style is influenced by the year that I spent in Japan. For me,
finding Kumiko's books (East Meets West, Fabled Flowers, Circles of
the East, Fantasies & Flowers) was like finding a voice for what
I had experienced. After trying my hand at Baltimore style applique,
I tried Sudo's work. Piece is machine pieced, hand appliqued, and hand quilted. Detail.
Signs of Grief, Signs of Growth
Another piece influenced by Kumiko Sudo's style. "Signs of Grief, Signs of Growth" is my interpretation
of one of Kumiko's patterns in the Fabled Flowers book. Hand appliqued, machine and hand quilted.
I made "Signs of Grief, Signs of Growth" as a grief quilt to work through the miscarriage that I had in October 1997.
Creating the quilt was a way to sit with my pain at the loss. At the same time, I had some career opportunities
come my way that I wouldn't have been open to if things were different. I told my church about this quilt in a sermon.
Detail.
Lullaby
I find myself interested in the combination of piecing and applique.
In this case, I wanted to do a simple small scrap quilt. Once the quilt top was
completed, it looked too simple. I added the applique on top. If time allows,
this may be a series. Machine pieced, hand applique, machine quilted.