Tokyo International Quilt Festival 2016

Ah, Tokyo International Quilt Festival, you never fail to inspire me with your quilts, and overwhelm me with your crowds.

Quilt? What quilt?

Yes, it’s been that time of the year again, where I take a deep breath and dive into the crowds that fill the Tokyo Dome, all in pursuit of fabric shopping and quilt admiring. As usual, the quilts were of fantastic quality! One of the special exhibits this year was all about log cabin quilts, and seeing how different quilters interpreted that theme was fascinating. Kumiko Fujita did not disappoint with her log cabin quilt aptly titled “Alphabet”. Can you spot the 2 letters/numbers missing?!

Triangles, improv blocks formed into flowers, more traditional style log cabin quilts, scrappy, minimalistic… Never have I seen so many different ways to use the log cabin method!

Damage by Suzuko Koseki

Two of my most absolute favourite quilts at the show were not in the log cabin section, but were actually log cabin quilts anyway!

Log Cabin 1

It was interesting to muse about why these quilts were my favourite, and I realised that it’s the same every time I go to a quilt show – I am instinctively drawn to quilts that are geometric/ordered (as opposed to improv).

Once In A Lifetime

I am also irresistibly drawn to quilts that have a fantastic use of colour. Ask my husband what it’s like walking around shops with me, or even watching movies or TV shows with stunning landscapes, I can’t resist beautiful, rich colour! Like Hana Cabbage:

If there’s a rainbow quilt that has the colours melting and blending into each other, including lights and darks… swoooon! And when you add clever colour play to geometric designs?! Double swoooon…

Heart Heart Heart

I’ve always loved making mini or baby quilts, with the smaller canvas for playing on being much more manageable. The Framed Quilts section is always a favourite source of inspiration! This year was no exception, with this thread sketch of a photo capturing my attention.

And of course, seeing as I’m in the throes of two sampler quilts, I couldn’t not share this beautiful sampler quilt! Can you see the tiny triangle outermost border?!

My Sampler Quilt

It’s a little odd… this may be my last Tokyo quilt show ever! I mean, I highly doubt it, as I’m sure I will be able to swing a special trip timed for the show at some point, but it’s certainly the last one while living in Japan. You can see all the pictures I took on Flickr, and I’ll share my handful of purchases on Sunday!

If you want to read more about my quilty times here in Japan, here’s some of the posts that may interest you:

Travel Tips and Advice