#1 'Identical Twins' 40.5 x 40.5 Made in 2011. Gifted to Mary Lou Martinez on her 90th birthday. (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'. 65.25" x 62.25". Silk, synthetic Japanese pieces found at a thrift store, cotton traditional patch work quilt topping.

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.

 

#64. 'Hapa - Nigerian Scot' 64" x 66" 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.

 

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.

 

#15. 'Hidden African Tulips' Made in 2013.5 gifted in 2022.12 to Jamie Young (who waited patiently), a weaving classmate from U of Hawaii, @1976; perhaps our last Christmas dinner in Oak Park.

close up of side 1.

#63 'Colleen is Tutuvi and Tutuvi is Colleen'. 2022.11 50" x 50" Tutuvi scraps and Hawaiian fabric samples.

Project started with Tutuvi scraps brought home from a trip to Honolulu in September. It was finished by the end of November, just in time to mail it back to Honolulu and Colleen. 

 

Japanese Lantern / Chinese Winter Cherry

The Japanese Lantern plant, also known as the Chinese lantern or winter cherry, is a popular symbol of ‘life within death.’ It blooms in the winter, but when it dries up in the spring, the ‘skin’ crumbles away, revealing the red fruit that lives inside its ‘skeleton.’

#62. 'Father/Son, Mother/Daughter, (with lemons)' 66 x 68 no preference. Japanese and English floral prints.

Life is bitter AND sweet.

Lemons sit in the center of English Chintz and on the other side in the center of Asian florals.  

This was started at the beginning of summer and finished at the end of summer. 

In memory of Max and Beatrice who passed May 10 and August 16, 2022.

Actually when crumpled and crushed you can glimpse the other side...

Available for purchase at 'FISHCAKE' 307C Kamani St. Honolulu. 'Hawaiian Garden/Kansas Baseball'.

#32. Hawaiian Garden / Kansas Baseball. 62 x 73.4

Shown at 'Firecat Projects', Chicago, 2018 

800.00 retail.

Made of thrift store gingham, 

samples of Hawaiian prints from sister in law, 

and accumulated African fabric.

 

Something to investigate..."THE NONA MYTH: Nona is one of the three Parcae goddesses of Roman mythology, symbols of human destiny and the necessary change. Nona spins the thread of life, Decima weaves it and Morta cuts it."

#51. 'Mauna Loa / Powehi', is in the Hawaii Craftsmen 'Fiber Hawaii 2022' show. Opens June 8 - July 1. Fabrics used are scraps from Colleen Kimura's Tutuvi line and samples from Hawaii. Go see the back of this front panel.

#61 'Ukraine: Before and After' 56.5 x 52.5 Hawaii Costco sarong, blue color off Marimekko fabric, children print and various "ugly" fabrics.

Juror Kate Irvin, Curator and Department Head, Costume and Textiles at the Rhode Island School of Art Museum selected side B into 'Excellence in Fibers VIII' which will be published in the winter issue of 'Fiber Art Now', Jan. 2023.  A subsequent show will be held in San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles August 23, 2023. 

I'm excited that the "ugly" side has been selected to present. How interesting.

 

Side A

Side B

 

#55 'Juneteenth-20 / Heroics' was accepted for publication and a show.

Jurors:

 Petra Slinkard, Director of Curatorial Affairs, The Nancy B Putnam Curator of Fashion and Textiles, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts.

Melinda Watt, President Textile Society of America, Chair and Christa C. Mayer Thurman Curator, Departed of Textiles, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Excellence in Fibers VII

Fiber Art Now. Vol 11 Issue 2 Spring 2022

Schweinfurth Art Center Summer Exhibition May 28-August 14 2022

 

?#. In Progress...

 

#60. 'Waltzing With Bears / Uncle Walter' 2021.12 66.5 x 60 Very lumpy and bumpy. American fabrics. Bears gifted from Missouri.

I was contrasting these dark bears to light flowers and kittens; when I stumbled upon a song. 

My ukulele group sang 'Waltzing With Bears', written by Dr. Seuss and later interpreted by other musicians. I was inspired to learn that this song is an anthem for some gays and lesbians. 

Our Uncle Walter's not right in the head 

He's been that way all his life, my mother said

 Its not that he's violent or falls down the stairs 

Its just he goes waltzing, waltzing with bears 

 He goes wa wa wa waltzing, waltzing with bears 

Raggy bears, shaggy bears, baggy bears too 

There's nothing on earth Uncle Walter won't do 

So he can go waltzing, wa wa wa waltzing 

He can go waltzing, waltzing with bears