Fine-line piecing in Tokyo

I wondered at first about teaching a workshop entitled “piecing very fine lines,” which I did in Tokyo last week as part of my Quilts Japan Prize.

Would it appeal to anybody? Would there be enough substance to make people think they got their money’s worth? The technical issues can be covered in ten minutes, and we segue quickly into using people’s own designs without much guidance from me. I was happy to discover that the workshop attracted enough people to warrant a second session, and really happy to discover that the participants did beautiful things with the concept.

I wrote a couple of months ago about my anxiety to discover that many of the workshop participants apparently would want to piece by hand rather than by machine. I did figure out how to adapt the technique for hand-piecing, and sure enough, a few people did want to work this way. But as I had suspected, most of them realized the potential of the sewing machine; one or two even started by hand and switched to machine after one or two seams.

The workshop was equipped with Juki machines, one for every two participants. You probably know of Juki as a workhorse industrial machine; many quilters have long been enamored of its quality but you have to search around to find one, maybe used. Now the company has put out its first machine for the home market, and it’s a beauty. The company also provided two or three technicians for the workshop, to show people how to thread the machines and otherwise hold the hands of those who might be wary of the technology. If anybody walked into the room hesitant about machine piecing, they certainly had the opportunity to lose those doubts.

We had given minimal instructions on what fabric to bring, so in addition to solids many people had prints or stripes. I have worked almost exclusively with solids in my own fine-line quilts and it was fun to see the different effects that came from more adventurous fabric choices.

Because many of the workshop participants are teachers themselves, they were confident in striking out with the technique. (The workshop even included two former Quilt National artists, Harue Konishi and Chiaki Dosho.)  Here are several of the more ambitious pieces that were made in the six-hour class. I am sorry that I am unable to supply names with most of these photos, both because we did not have nametags and because the studies were pinned to the board anonymously.

Above is one of Harue's pieces; in no time at all she had whipped out two very different, very complicated little studies.

Here’s a piece that seemed quite Japanese in its feeling, thanks to the elegant lines and graceful curves – in fact, it made me think of a kanji character drawn with a very fine brush. I could see myself making a lot of these little “characters” and combining them into expanses of “text.”

Here’s one where the plain vanilla web of fine lines was interrupted by a stripe of complex piecing.

In all, it seemed as though everybody had fun and made some lovely little studies.  I hope they will use the technique again in their work.  I also hope I have the chance to teach fine-line workshops again -- but next time, sewing machines only, thank you.

Quilts Japan Prize

Last spring I was honored to receive the Quilts Japan Prize at Quilt National '09.  This marvelous award is given by Nihon Vogue, a publishing powerhouse in Tokyo that is largely responsible for the popularity of quilting in Japan.  A Quilts Japan Prize is awarded at Quilt National, and also at Quilt Visions, as a way to strengthen the connections between US and Japanese quilters.  The award: a trip to Japan, during which the recipient teaches a workshop.

I'm in Tokyo now, having a wonderful time.  My workshop on piecing very fine lines was sold out shortly after it was opened for registration, so there ended up being a second workshop the next day.  Both sessions were lots of fun, and I was so pleased with how quickly people picked up on the technique and made beautiful study pieces.

I want to stop and give a little shout-out to Nihon Vogue, because I was so impressed by what I learned about their history.  The company started by publishing knitting patterns, in book and magazine form (and they still have a huge business in this area), but in the 1980s Mr. Tadanobu Seto, the company founder, became aware of quilting and realized that it had a huge potential in Japan.  He branched out into quilting books and magazines, and was rewarded by a growing popularity for the art form.  Nihon Vogue (pronounced Nee-hon Voe-goo) also sponsors the prestigious Quilt Nihon show.

In 1994 Mr. Seto decided to sponsor the Quilts Japan prize, with the idea that it would be given five times at Quilt National and five times at Quilt Visions.  But at the end of that time, everybody was having such a good time that the prize was extended and has been given six more times (Velda Newman will be number seven, when she receives the award at Quilt Visions this fall and will be in Japan next year to teach).

I'll write lots more about the workshop, and my adventures in Japan, in later posts but for now, let me say how honored I am to have received this wonderful prize, and what world-class hospitality the Nihon Vogue people have provided to me this week.  I've wanted to come to Japan for many years and this has been my dream come true.