Tokyo Quilt Festival 2013 - Part 1 of 3

To The Gentle Future, by Noriko Hayashi 

This year I had the privilege to attend the Opening Ceremony/preview as a guest of my friend Ann from the U.S. Embassy.  There was an opening ceremony (many speeches, flowers, a ribbon cutting) and then a brief opportunity to preview the show (deferring to the Princess and her entourage of Secret Service) before the doors opened officially -  first to the quilters and guests, and then to the anxious public.  

Grand prize winner ___________ (name?)

After this, it would be hard to catch a full view of the winning quilts:

Name? _______

We were in awe of this intricate, completely hand pieced and quilted blue and white piece:

Drift Ice, by Toshie Yamagata

Drift Ice by Toshie Yamagata, detail 

I was standing here admiring the following quilt, when its maker shyly introduced herself and was glad to pose for a photo.  I am so sorry I did not remember her name - and it wasn't in romaji on the sign.   

Can someone translate this?

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 Log cabins everywhere in this show:

JAPONISM, by _____ ?

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Our time with this preview group was so limited, and so I returned to the show yesterday with my friend Julie W, just like last year.  We took our sweet time, talking all the way - it was so fun!

I had my eye out for Sashiko both days, and the show did not disappoint.  Here are several shots of one of the standouts:

Again.... maybe one of my Japanese friends can translate?

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OK, who can resist 101 cats?

Or a Bug's Life? (I love the sashiko quilting on this one!)

Bug's Life by Satoko Okamura 

Bug's Life by Satoko Okamura, detail 

Special Exhibition, very American, very crowded, strictly no photos allowed, Julie and I breezed through:

And forged on.  This whimsical piece caught my eye:

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Love this:

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Keiko Goke is a standout for her use of color:

 I believe this quilt is in response to 3/11:

At this point Julie and I had hit that overload tipping point (the crowds, the overwhelming number of quilts) and we were punchy, and not really actually seeing quilts anymore.  When it all starts to look the same it's time for a break.  We sat in the stands and had a snack, then walked around again briefly, finished hitting the vendors (and knowing I'm returning to the U.S. this summer, I was generous with myself), and trained home.

I arrived home with sore feet but happy eyes (photos) and hands (purchases). I'm already scheming and dreaming for how I might return to Japan for this show one of these upcoming years!

Stay tuned for another post about my favorite exhibit in the show!

Tokyo Quilt Festival 2012

TOKYO International Great Quilt Festival 2012, that is!

 Yesterday my friend JulieW and I braved the (sometimes crushing) crowds at Tokyo Dome, and had a great time viewing the quilts and visiting the many venders.   This was our view as we entered the arena:

Our plan was to browse the venders first, and then see the show.  I will post about the venders separately.  It was so crowded that we never met up with the rest of our group, although we did have the pleasure of running into Julie from My Quilt Diary as we were heading out of the venders and into the show.   I can't wait to compare notes with Julie!

THE SHOW:  

At first I was disappointed when it seemed that picture-taking was prohibited, but then I noticed so many people taking pictures with their phones, and that only certain sections of the show were off-limits to photos, so I ended up snapping quite a few.  I bought the show catalogs but nothing was really translated into English, and only the names of Master Quilters were included in English, so regrettably I can't indicate many of the quilt makers' names here.  Some of the quilts had English titles, but most didn't.

I hope you'll enjoy these snippets of the Quilt Show!

Group Quilts 

On the periphery of the show, there were many group quilts displayed.  Are these charity quilts?  If anyone has any insights into the origin and purpose of these quilts please let us know in the comments!

Here is #42.

 Spotted  Meli B is Making Things 's block:

Traditional Category:

 It was hard to even get near the prize-winners.  I loved this one by Masako Sanada, which took second prize in the Traditional Quilts category: 

I'm not sure how the organizers decided what was "traditional" and what was "original design". 

I really liked this crisp red and white:

The photos don't do this quilt justice.  It was exquisite:

 Perhaps my favorite quilt was this one titled "SPRING" - composed of soft somewhat faded solids. The quilt managed to be both vibrant and soft.  Check out the beautiful hand quilting with colored thread.

Original Design Quilt Category:

There was a lot of interest in this quilt titled "Shining Town": 

Bunnies hopping off of a ball of... bunnies:

 An unusual shot of yellow:

"Hazama" - lots of raw edges:

This one was so cool:

"Wa" Quilt Category: 

I loved this one for its simplicity:   

Whoa.... it's hard to tell in the photo, but this was quite the "bedazzled" quilt, right JulieW? :)

Beautiful sashiko stitching - this was a stunner and I wish I could have stood in front of it longer:

Next we viewed some quilts by Master Quilters.  There was even a separate event book for these quilters - with no English translation though!

"Requiescat" by Yuko Kita:

"resurrection" by Satoko Okamura:

"BORN FREE" by Miyoko Murata:

"Memories of the silk" by Junko Himeno:

 "Wonder in the Magic Mirror" by Isako Murakami:

Junior Category: 

Fabulous! So joyful!

My overall impression of the show was "WOW!"... and "over the top!" (not always in a good way).  After awhile it was a little overwhelming and I found myself craving, I don't know...  a simple 9-patch or something (the Hexagon section, which didn't allow photos, was a breath of fresh air).

After awhile, it was all starting to look the same and we had just seen enough....

So we breezed through the Framed Quilt section....

And skipped the Quilted Bag section...

But then this morning as I looked through the show catalogs, I realized I completely missed seeing many, many beautiful and interesting quilts.  Blame it on the sheer magnitude of this event, the crowds, and limited capacity for taking it all in!

A couple of afterthoughts - this was a Japanese show through and through, with nary a word translated into English.  It was not "International" - apart from a (fairly bizarre) Alice in Wonderland themed section, and a refreshing Hexagon section curated by Shelly Zegart from Louisville, Kentucky (strictly no photos allowed, which was a shame, because these were beautiful quilts, and worth the price of the catalog).  

I loved this show, and it's the first big quilt show I've attended.  However, I really longed to read a little something about the quilts and their makers, and so something was really lost for me.

All in all though, it was a thrill to see this show.... and I can hardly believe I actually live here this year, a short subway ride away.  I've blocked out tomorrow in case I feel the need to go back for a second round!

If you attended the show, I'd love to hear your impressions in the comments!