Tokyo Quilt Show Part 2

 

 

TOKYO QUILT SHOW

PART 2

 

 

This post is a continuation of the previous. Here I have posted more pics of the other quilts I saw that were not related to the Laura Ingalls Theme.

 

This was actually really pretty. All of the top fabric was sheer and silky.

 

 

 

This one was absolutely one of my favorites!

 

I loved this one as well. There was more blue in the quilt than what is showing up in the photo but the whale fins looked really great amongst all of this overwhelming and full water.

 

There was soooooo much detail in this one. Very impressive.

 

These small pieces were from a vendor and they specialized in sheer fabrics used to make patterns.

 

Hawaiian style quilts

 

Fun, bright colored quilted animals

 

Lace is super popular in Japan. There were a number of booths that had Victorian Era type products that were soooooo beautiful.

 

I finally came to an area that had more Japanese type of quilts and bags.  Most of the quilts had traditional images and symbols. Rabbits were a popular theme because they bring good luck.

 

I had to make this photo xl so you could see the Anne of Green Gables piece on the right and the two kimono quilted pieces to the left. Anne of Green Gables is also extremely popular here. I read something about a lawsuit involving the government and the people who made the movie years ago.

 

This Kimono is quite old. I have no idea how old but the fabric along the edges was slightly frayed but despite that it is in beautiful condition and I loved the village scene embroidered at the bottom.

 

This one was really nice - a lot of little pieces to make all of those houses in the snow.

 

I love white so this one was gorgeous in my opinion.

 

This Japanese quilt was super cute. I loved all the designs in it.



There was a small exhibit of quilts based on storybooks.  This was super cute. Love, love, love!

 

Paris, France complete with the Moulin Rouge.

 

This Kimono was all hand embroidered and was GORGEOUS!

 

Nikko, Japan quilt

 

This display was huge. It was comprised of 10 quilts attached together.

 

If I could have purchased any quilt at the show, this would have been it.

 

Small Mt Fuji quilt in frame

 



 

I came away from the quilt show with a few purchased items - a rosette scarf and small travel purse plus two silk pieces that had a flower image hand painted on them. The silk fabric is old for sure and I am going to try to have both pieces framed to put on the wall. I found a few cute hairpins also. I am into hairpins now that my hair is much shorter. I bought my sister and grandma some traditional Japanese fabric pieces to see if they can make anything out of them if they want to.  There was a really pretty evening bag at one booth but it was beyond spendy so that was a bit of a bummer. The quilt show is definitely something I would check out again next year. I would prefer to go on a weekday though to avoid the crowds. 



Tokyo Quilt Show

 

TOKYO QUILT SHOW

PART 1

 

I spent my Saturday morning at the Tokyo Quilt Show. It was located at the Tokyo Dome which is the same venue where I went to the All-Star Baseball Game a few months ago.  I wasn't really sure what to expect because when you think of Japan, you don't think of quilting. My interest was peaked though because this years show had a "Little House on the Prairie" theme and it was mentioned as being one of the world's largest quilt shows. I have seriously been to maybe two quilt shows my entire life but I certainly have a great appreciation for the beauty, creativity, and hard work that goes into quilting. I can't sew to save my life and perhaps that is something I need to learn how to do.

 

 

Okay so this post has many photos but please scroll down because if you are a Laura Ingalls fan and/or a quilt fan then you will really like some of the pictures below.

 

 

If you get the munchies you have a choice of traditional Japanese treats or hot dogs.

 

Okay so this quilt show began about 4 days ago I think and I came at 11:00am on Saturday. This was the crowd when I arrived and by the time I left, 3 hours later, there were probably double the people.

 

There was a very nice and cute display paying tribute to American pioneer heritage and Laura Ingalls. It was complete with a cute little log cabin, teepee, and covered wagon. I learned that The Japanese are fans of The Little House series and also Anne of Green Gables. Many of the people there were like me and taking a lot of pictures. As an American I was really happy to see the interest displayed by the Japanese with regard to this part of our history.

 

Here you go - Little House on the Prairie in Japanese for you viewing pleasure. That is Mrs. Olson arguing with the pastor.

 

 

Here are some hair pins that belonged to Laura Ingalls. Also I learned that you could use them to knit lace. She knitted the lace shown in the photo.

 

Here is an outfit she made for her daughter Rose.

 

Little House series in Japanese

 

Illustrations included in the Little House books. I believe most of these were illustrations for "Farmer Boy."

 

Her desk and writing tools and a handmade apron

 

Here is a quilt made by Laura Ingalls. This is called a "crazy" quilt where you use random pieces and shapes and large stiches. 

 

Party dress that belonged to Laura Ingalls

 

So because it was SO CROWDED I had to snap pictures quickly and from a bit of a distance most of the time.  I hope you can make out most of the images on the quilt.

 

 

So I was trying to figure this one out and it could just be that I don't know or remember much about Laura Ingalls but the quilt says "Jason Loves Laura" and we all know that her husband was Almanzo. So my best guess is that in the Japanese translation they used the translated name for Jason since Almanzo is quite unusual.

 

 

 

 

Omochi Pounding

At school we began a Japanese cultural study unit and I am learning quite a bit. I am actually really grateful for this unit because there is so much about Japan and the people here that I do not know and haven't been able to learn yet. I am learning right along with my students. 

 

Today we had a school event known as Omochi pounding. Omochi is a sticky rice type of dough that is a traditional Japanese treat.  You can buy it in all kinds of flavors. 

 

My class was given a bag of special white rice and we cleaned it and let it soak overnight. This morning we took our soaked rice to the school community room where it was steamed and cooked by our fabulous volunteer parents.  The steamed rice was then placed in the large wooden barrel, kneaded by hand for a few minutes, and then pounded with a large wooden hammer. As the rice is pounded everyone shouts "yoisho" in a loud voice to add to the fun. Of course I had to join in and give it a quick try. After the rice was pounded, the parents took it and cut it into small round pieces and added different flavors. Unfortunately chocolate was not one of the flavors. The students had fun and it was nice to learn a bit more about this Japanese tradition which is fading out due to the popularity of omochi making machines.

Our wonderful parents decorated the community room with kites, pictures, and flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the older gentleman who came to demonstrate the omochi pounding for us. He brought two helpers to come and assist the students with the pounding.

 

 

 Here is the barrel where the sticky rice is placed. The blue buckets contain water and the wooden mallets are rinsed in the water after every two pounds or so to keep the rice from sticking to them.

 

 

 

The students got to wear a traditional Japanese Happi and headband. The read symbol on the headband and back of the Happi means "festival." We are looking at the rice before it is pounded.

 

The kneading and pounding of the rice. Students got to pound a couple of times each. Just trust me when I say it was totally cute to see and watch them pound with that giant wooden mallet. :)

 

Teacher Hillary's turn!

Here is the rice after the pounding.

 



 

And here are the samples we all got to try.