#69. 'Japanese American'. 2025.2. 65.5" x 61.5". Thrift store fabrics, both Japanese and American. Silk, Synthetics, Cotton.

    

Tweaking the traditional quilt and weaving designs of Japan and America. 

I used small bits of Japanese fabrics. They look like they are placed by chance. But no, I learned randomness in design is never random. 

American fabric printed to look like already made traditional quilts are torn apart loosing their quilt designs only to be woven into a traditional woven design, the Madras plaid. Below are pictures of the fabrics I tore into 1" widths. They lost all of their individual designs but kept their colors in the madras plaid weave.

 

Pattern made of one inch squares make a useful sizing background for a growing baby! (#43. Water Bubbles/Lava Knits)

 

#68. Young Marimekko / Old Granny. 1/2025. 25" x 32.5" Marimekko scraps, flannel dots, synthetic and cotton. Gifted.

Young Marimekko

Old Granny

Small people need small blankies. Gifted to friend Tina and her new grandkid.

You know you're working when you get "pinned". 'Japan / America Quilts'. Still unfinished due to life's distractions.

 

I finally have a wall to display on, stand back and view. Finally the renovation is almost done...over a year later. From working in a bedroom to a studio.

2022: working on the floor of a bedroom, with a dresser and bed crowding me 

and wearing a headlamp for lighting.

2024: my basement studio. With a wall to hang and actually see the work without having to climb a ladder and look down on it. 

 Wedding Syzygy. 72" x 70".  Sun, Moon and Earth.

And a wall to pin to...

Infinity Baby Blanket 36.5 x 39"

#67. 'Infinity Baby Blanket'. 2024.8 36.5" x 39" when laid flat. A weave of fuzzy flannel with slippery synthetic fabric. Bordered with a "made for baby" flannel binding tape that I found. I discovered that I had just enough! Gifted at a baby shower.

Close up.

Both sides are shown in these two photos.

 

  

#66. Wedding Syzygy. 72" x 70" Made between 3.2023 - 3.2024, with Tutuvi remnants and thrift store fabrics. A syzygy is when two is linked by a third. When the Earth, Moon and Sun allign in an eclipse, that is a syzygy. When two are wedded by an officiate, that is a syzygy.

WARNING there's a bear in there! 'Waltzing With Bears / Uncle Walter' is shipping to SF from St. Louis, MO. SOLD 11/2023.

 

It's been a not too brief respite from daily living. Whittling down possessions was harder and longer than expected. Once the renovation is finally completed the unpacking begins. I expect more paring down. But for now I enjoy a nice respite driving 5 hours with a carload and Mr. Ti plant and friends. Peace.

 

#58 'Appalachian Moose / Plastic Lei' is in the 'Fiber Art Now' Fall 2023 edition. It will be in the 'Texas Quilt Museum', La Grange, Texas. May-August 2024. 51" x 41" 2021.6 $900.00

Below is the back side of the moose, it's a plastic lei, as artificial as the Moose.

 

#1 'Identical Twins' 40.5 x 40.5 Made in 2011. Gifted to Mary Lou Martinez on her 90th birthday, 7/2023. (Washed with new binding) May it be enjoyed for many years to come.

 Side A looks like Side B. 'Identical Twins.' It all started with cleaning out the basement.

#65. 'Japanese Boro / American Patchwork'. 5.2023. 65.25" x 62.25". Silk, synthetic Japanese pieces found at a thrift store, cotton traditional patch work quilt topping. SOLD 10/2023

True to both Japanese and American traditions: I used Japanese fabric to patch over the holes in this tattered traditional American quilt topping. 'Boro' in Japanese means 'raggedy', 'tattered', it also refers to the tradition of patching and repairing clothing; usually with indigo dyed cloth. I wove indigo like blue and white strips on the back, echoing the American quilts design on the front. Patches on the back are exactly placed opposite the Japanese silky patches on the front. Even the binding is pieced together.

 

Magane picked up her "win" from the Unity Temple's auction. 'Marimekko Flowers / Ghosts.'

 

#65. In progress... 'Boroboro'. What is the matter with me?! Only now after two weeks of sewing do I really see it is not working. I need to take out a multitude of machine stitches and then resew them by hand. SOLD 10/2023

 

#64. 'Hapa - Nigerian Scot'. 2023.2. 64" x 66.5" This is not a woven quilt because it is 2 ply and has no in-between layer "stuffing". My others have 3 or 4 layers, affording 2 presentable different sides. This has identical sides because the fabric themselves are reversible. I call this "identical twins". Wool tartans, cotton African prints. 900.00

 

2022.29.12 'Fiber Art Now' vol. 12 / Issue 1/ Winter 2023, 'Excellence in Fibers VIII', curated by Kate Irvin. Sorry, NOT on view at San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. Aug. 25, 2023 - Jan. 7, 2024.

Here is side A. of #62 'Ukraine: Before and After', the flip side of what is pictured in 'Fiber Art Now'. I believe it is just as valid as the more attractive portrayal of Ukraine. It is the story of war.