two finishes

The ASIJ Gala Quilt was auctioned off for an impressive sum this past weekend.

For the history behind this striking quilt, see this post at Tokyo Jinja, one of the three masterminds behind this beauty.  Julie F of My Quilt Diary designed these playful, elegant carp and she blogged about it here.  I especially enjoyed helping to hand quilt it.  Yay team!

Another finish:  Today was my last day assisting with the English department of Fukagawa High School.  I can't believe I neglected to take photos today!  Maybe it was because today was the last in a series of high-pressure oral conversation assessments, run with a strict eye to the stopwatch.  I have really enjoyed this little part-time job.  But I have not so much enjoyed the commute:

So I have mixed feelings about the job coming to an end.  I will however definitely miss this particular corner near the school:

And how's this for a potential finish?  (I don't think I could or would!)

I'm pretty sure Idaho had nothing to do with this burger!  Any readers out there from Idaho?  Gotta love MacDonalds in Japan!

ASIJ Gala Auction quilt

The ASIJ (American School in Japan) Gala quilt group has been meeting on Tuesday mornings to work on this year's quilt, which features a background pieced from kasuri, and three striking carp pieced from silks and chirimen.  With the March deadline looming I'm trying to join in as much as possible.

This golden carp needed to be pieced/ needle turn appliqued.  Satisfying work especially when the basting had already been done, and when stabilizer had been used.  And time flew as we chatted away.

The fish were designed by master quilter JulieF of My Quilt Diary - check out her blog for more detail about this awesome quilt.  The fabrics were chosen so very carefully.  Stunning!

These finished fish...

await their placement back into the water -

These ladies set the bar high!  It promises to be a stunning addition to the Gala auction, and will hopefully command a high price to benefit the school.

Furin quilt

This morning the ASIJ Gala quilting group enjoyed the satisfying task of tacking back the binding on our  "Summer Breezes" quilt.  

The design was inspired by a Suzuko Koseki quilt that knocked the socks off one of our group leaders last year.  Suzuko is the force behind La Clochette, and is an influential quilter and teacher here in Japan whose books look wonderful.

The quilt features hand-appliqued "furin" -  Japanese wind chimes -  in a variety of cottons and silks.  Boy were those silks tough to applique, but the result is both soft and stunning.  The quilting design is meant to evoke the raked gravel in a traditional Japanese rock garden.

The quilt will be auctioned off at a benefit Gala dinner next week.  I can't wait to hear how it goes!

I had to leave for something else just as the hanging sleeve was being attached to the back of the quilt, and so I missed getting a good photo of the finished quilt - but please check out Tokyo Jinja's excellent post about the quilt and its creation.

I feel lucky to have so immediately stumbled upon a quilting group after moving to Tokyo - and it meets just a short walk from my apartment - what were the chances of that in a city this big?

Several women (including Jacqueline of Tokyo Jinja, and Julie of My Quilt Diary) spearheaded the project and did lots of work behind the scenes between group sessions - from design decisions, organizing the group, selecting fabric, making borders and binding.  It felt like a luxury to be among those who just showed up on Tuesdays with needle in hand, to sew and chat for a few hours.  Many people popped in and out of the group off and on through the months - many hands making light work.  It was a thrill to see it come together and I hope it's well received at the auction!

I wish I'd taken more photos along the way, but here are a few:

Pieced - entirely by hand, by many hands - and ready for the border

Hand quilting... almost there!

The rock garden quilting design was so interesting. 

I am linking up with QuiltStory's Fabric Tuesday - see the link on my sidebar, and check out the many creative projects there!