Blossom Heart Quilts

Modern quilt teacher and patterns

Itedakimasu!

Itedakimasu finish

I’m a part of Wombat Stew – a paper piecing bee of Aussies (and now 1 honorary Aussie!) – and we have just finished Round 1. I kicked it off all the way back in September, asking for Japanese cuisine-themed blocks. And wow, the girls delivered!

Itedakimasu

Marieka made 2 cups of chopsticks and the plate in the bottom corner, Jane made the teapot and cups, Lara made the rice bowl and soy sauce, Gemma made the plate of gyoza, Kristy made the sushi platter, and Fiona made the shoji screens. The blocks have been sitting at the bottom of ever-changing blocks on my sewing desk, and when I pulled them out on Wednesday night to piece them, I fell in love all over again!

Picking a favourite is like picking a favourite child – not possible. But it is possible to have some favourite bits of each block, for example the Flurry selvage on the soy sauce bottle, the linen gyoza, the wasabi on the sushi platter, the accurately elegant-coloured chopsticks, the rice bowl print on the teapot and cups, and the way the shoji screens tie it all together.

Itedakimasu detail

Once I had pieced it all together, I only had to look at it for a second to know that pebbling was how this needed to be quilted. Partly to make it nice and heavy to sit straight for a wall hanging, partly because it makes me think of rice, partly because I wanted an all-over design to make the blocks pop.

Itedakimasu backing

I had chosen the backing to use up this green solid that isn’t really that nice to work with (a rather coarse feel to it), but I didn’t even think of how well it would show the quilting! Pebbling is such a great design – it’s forgiving to any wonky/bubbly seams, or in this case, lots of small seams from paper piecing (just circle around the thickest seams!), it’s forgiving for any wonky quilting as it just looks so freehand anyway, and it’s so much fun! It does use a lot of thread – over 4 bobbins all up just for this small wall hanging! I don’t see myself using it for a full-sized quilt, but for minis, it’s definitely a favourite.

A special label

Binding was a bit of a pain -trying to sew in between the small pebbles around the edge, and it was very easy to slip through to the front (some of which are still there, but not noticeable unless right up close). And my thread kept tangling, especially the red section. But I got there, and the black frames it so nicely, with the pop of red to balance out the red in the blocks and to add some more interest! I love this wall hanging so much I even did a front label to immortalise where this all came from, utilising the Rising Sun-esque plate center to write the label. ‘Itedakimasu’ is what you say before you begin to eat, literally meaning “I humbly receive”. It’s like saying ‘bon appetit!’ in French.

My husband’s job this weekend is to work out how to hang it in the kitchen without the ability to put hooks or such in the wall. I did add corner pockets for future dowel/hook usage, but maybe it’ll just get pinned to the wall for now, as the walls are coated in a soft, rubbery substance and take pins very nicely!

Obachan

Behind the scenes – a little old lady stopped and inspected the hanging very closely, saying few words, before shuffling on… I think she liked it? And she wished me luck. For something.

AmysCreativeSide.com

Stats:

Size: 23″ x 28″

Techniques: Paper piecing, bee blocks
Quilting: Pebbling on an Elna 1000 with Aurifil 2021 50w
Batting: Low loft cotton (random Japanese brand)
Category: Wall Hanging  – #2

Comments

  1. Sooli says

    It doesn’t matter how long these blocks waited for their turn, they look amazing now! Great job putting them all together!

    Reply

  18. M. E. Stephens says

    A lovely keepsake and quilt. 🙂 I dare say this will be more valuable to you someday (probably even now) than some much more expensive gewgaws that could be carried home with you later. 🙂

    Reply

  23. Crafty Tokyo Mama says

    Oh my, that is one truly gorgeous, unique, utterly oishii quilt! How nice to be a part of such a talented group of wombats. Each member deserves high praise for their wonderful work.

    Reply

  26. LisaW says

    What a fantastic keepsake for your time in Japan! That pebbling technique is fab…especially love that you’ve left the silhouette of the front panels on the reverse. Just beautiful. Oh, and that pop of red in the binding is just the perfect hit.

    Reply

  27. Britt G. says

    This is why I would want to learn to paper-piece – to make something cool like this! I love the pebble quilting – it really suits the subject matter and really does make the blocks pop.

    Reply

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