Big City Girl QAL

As a part of living in Japan, I consider it my duty to spread the Japanese message of love and fabric to one and all. So when Aylin invited me to join the Big City Girl QAL, how could I resist! Each week, a blogger from somewhere around the world will be sharing a quilt block based on their Big City. For me, that’s Tokyo.

I tossed up what to make – a pagoda, a kimono, the Tokyo Skytree (tallest tower in the world) – and in the end, put a call out on Facebook for what landmark people think of when they think of Tokyo. The answer was the Rainbow Bridge.

 

The Rainbow Bridge connects Tokyo to お台場 – Odaiba – a man-made island in Tokyo Bay that was originally built in the 1850s for defensive purposes, but is now a tourist and native mecca for giant shopping malls, large hotels, exhibitions centres, festivals and more. And more importantly, it is one of my most favourite places in Tokyo! We head there later in the day, window shop a bit, eat dinner and enjoy the night lights begin to sparkle. In summer, the cool breezes are a welcome change to the hot and humid days, but most of all, the space. Coming from Australia to high-density Tokyo is a big shock and at Odaiba, the Bay is expansive and spacious.  The lights from the many dinner cruises fill the bay as the sun sets (over Mt Fuji in winter!), and the bridge lights start to twinkle. However they aren’t always rainbow! The rainbow lights are only saved for special occasions and holidays, with white and green lights being the norm. Last weekend we were lucky to catch the rainbow lights on.

And so, a Rainbow Bridge quilt block…

Note: Use a 1/4″ seam throughout. Press all seams open unless otherwise specified. Arrows in diagrams do not demonstrate pressing directions, only how to construct the units.

What you will need:

Red:
2 – 1.5″ x 3.5″

Orange:
4 – 1.5″ x 1.5″

Yellow:
4 – 1.5″ x 1.5″

Green:
2 – 1.5″ x 1.5″
2 – 1.5″ x 2.5″

Blue:
2 – 1.5″ x 2.5″
2 – 1.5″ x 3.5″

Grey:
1 – 1.5″ x 12.5″

Background:
2 – 1.5″ x 2.5″
4 – 1.5″ x 3.5″
2 – 1.5″ x 4.5″
2 – 1.5″ x 5.5″
1 – 3.5″ x 4.5″
1 – 4.5″ x 5.5″
1 – 3.5″ x 12.5″

Step 1. Using the orange, yellow and green squares, make two units like shown above.

Step 2. Using the units from Step 1, two background 3.5″ rectangles, one red 3.5″ rectangle and one 5.5″ background rectangle, make one unit like shown above. Press seams away from the Step 1 units. This is the small arch.

Step 3. Using the remaining orange and yellow squares and the green 2.5″ rectangle, make two units like shown above.

Step 4. Using the units from Step 3, one 4.5″ background rectangle, one red 3.5″ rectangle, one 5.5″ rectangle and the 4.5″ x 5.5″ background rectangle, make one unit like shown above. Press seams away from the Step 3 units. This is the big arch.

Step 5. Sew the small arch unit to the left edge of the big arch unit. Press the seam towards the big arch unit. Sew the 3.5″ x 12.5″ background rectangle to the top edge. Press the seam towards the background rectangle.

Step 6. Sew two 2.5″ blue rectangles and two 2.5″ background rectangles together like shown above. Sew a 4.5″ background rectangle to the bottom edge. This is the small base.

Step 7. Sew two 3.5″ blue rectangles and two 3.5″ background rectangles together like shown above. Sew the 3.5″ x 4.5″ background rectangle to the left edge. This is the large base.

Step 8. Sew the small base unit to the left edge of the large base unit. Press the seam towards the big base unit.

Step 9. Sew the 12.5″ grey rectangle to the top of the bases unit. Sew this to the bottom of the arches unit. Press the seams towards the grey rectangle well.

Give your block a final press and yata! Yay! You’ve made a Rainbow Bridge quilt block.