Japanese Quilt Blocks - wonderful work by readers!

I love seeing quilts and blocks made from "Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match" and the blocks in the photos sent by Betsy Gulla (below) on behalf of her group's block of the month project are just stunning. Quilters from Patches'n'Pieces, of Lynchburg, Virginia, USA, have explored so many colour schemes and fabric combinations, I can't wait to see their finished quilts. One of the great pleasures in seeing the blocks made in different fabrics by readers is that I get to enjoy all the eye candy without having to do the work! ;-) Betsy contacted me before they started this mega block project and I was looking forward to seeing their finished quilts, so it was a lovely surprise to get a sneak peak of the works in progress.


Here's what Betsy says about their Block of the Month programme -

I am delighted to send some pictures from our Club’s foray into Japanese blocks. For this particular meeting, I asked everyone who had made a block or was nearing a completed project to bring all of them to a meeting at which one of our members, Lynne, spoke about living in Japan for 4 years. As you can see the blocks were the perfect backdrop to Lynne’s talk (lady in black dress)! I hope you are able to look up close at the fine work our ladies are doing! Our invited guest was Dr. Jay Hopkins, a local retired orthopedic surgeon who spent two years of his medical training in Japan; he has a vast collection of Netsuke. We were invited to his home to learn about these tiny works of art and to examine them under a magnifying glass. I am the lady in the red sweater and I will be teaching two Sashiko workshops at the end of the month. A suggestion was made that, in addition to our Appliqué group, that a Sashiko group meet once a month. See, your book has been our inspiration! Hope to send you more pictures when this Block of the Month is finished, most likely in June.

Lynne Govers, her husband (an American businessman on assignment) and their children lived in Okamoto, Japan, Higashinadaku, between Kobe and Osaka, from 1988-1992. Lynne had the good fortune of interacting on a deeper level with many Japanese and members of the international community. She worked on assignment for a Japanese businessman, substituted in the international high school and was also able to expand her interest in art. She became especially interested in washi paper and experimented with its many uses.

I'm looking forward to June and hope the group will enjoy the new block selection in "Japanese Taupe Quilt Blocks" as much as these. Betsy, we will have to do a virtual quilt show of all the group's quilts here! It looks like there are going to be at least twenty quilts, so that would be a treat in store.