NHQG Pincushion Show

I didn't make a mini this month, but, I have quite some minis to show you, so read on.... 

On Monday I took myself to a small quilt show - the "2021 14th Exhibition of "Pincushion"".  It was just a straight shot on my local Chiyoda train line from Akasaka to Machiya, and then a five minute walk from the train station - quite an easy 40 minute trip.   

By the way, for additional Japanese quilts, be sure to visit Janet O's coverage of the recent Quilts Japan show at NEQM.  Seeing her post this morning made me homesick!  But.... Tokyo is my current home and we love it too right?  Right!

This show was a small one hosted by Nihon Heritage Quilters Guild. 

The group's leader, Izumi Takamori,  happened to be there and she very graciously introduced herself and showed me around.  It was fun to "talk quilts" a bit.  Here she is, in front of one of her many quilts in the show.  What an amazing tiger!  She does absolutely amazing machine quilting on her domestic machine.  

A highlight of the show was "Cities of the World" - an exhibit of 90 challenge quilts from Japanese, New Zealander, and French quilters.  Each city was depicted by three quilters, one from each country.  What an absolutely brilliant idea!  Each one of these minis was so interesting.  I loved seeing each one.  

Just a few of the very many quilts that caught my eye, to give you a taste of the show: 

Amsterdam: 

Kathmandu: 

The three quilts depicting Kyoto: 

Strasbourg:  

Dresden: 

Rio de Janeiro: 

Chikako Ueno is an accomplished quilter and a friend of Julie Fukuda's that I've met in the past.  Julie blogged about this show too, so check out her blog post here!   Thank you Chikako for letting us know about this show! 

No Japanese quilt show is complete without a section of bags and this show was no exception.  The beautiful bag in the center of the display was created by Chikako Ueno: 

I really appreciated the small scale of this show, and I definitely appreciated zero crowding.  It is wonderful to see quilts in person.  You can see how the show was tucked away on the second floor of a community cultural hall of sorts: 

I got a kick out of these cute cows: 

All in all it was a fun manageable outing, and what an unexpected bonus to have Izumi-san walk me around a bit.   

Earlier in the day I helped my friend Aya get started with sashiko.  Here she's marking a practice piece.  That's a pattern, layered over chaco-paper, and covered with plastic film to help protect the pattern.  Aya's goal is to make 6+ "luncheon mats" for her family.  I may join her.... 

All in all, a really good "quilty" day.   And October is right around the corner - hard to believe! 

xo 

Cynthia 

p.s.  no clue as to why this was called a "Pincushion" show ;).  Ahhhhh Japan.