Friday, August 17, 2007

Mmmm... More Japanese Quilt Block Pillows



My latest project is another one from the book Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match.

I had purchased some blue fabric last week, and constructed block #5, otherwise known as Kurume kasuri igeta.

I was very happy with the results, and have been plotting since then about what block to do next. I settled on the very next one, #6 - Yamato kasuri igeta (Yamato well curb).



I am truly attracted to the simplicity of the designs and colors laid out in the book, but I like to add just a little bit of pattern to add more texture and fun to the look.

First I pieced 5 strips of fabric together...



... and then cut them perpendicularly to create the 1st, 3rd, and 5th columns below.



I did this as a "time saving" method, but it left me with a lot of extra sewn fabric that I couldn't use for this project. Hopefully I'll be able to apply it another one.



I chain stitched the remaining squares for columns 2 and 4:



After I sewed the columns together, I added the outside strips. I adapted the "recipe" in the book from a 9" block to a 16" block, so there was some slight redesign involved, which I plotted out on a small piece of graph paper before starting.

The most major change was adding this colorful 1 1/2" border. Visually, I like to think it looks like the binding on a quilt.



So, here's the two blocks as they appear in the book:



And here they are transformed into pillows!



I was very pleased with the results and took many glamour shots:



As always, I couldn't resist putting some quirkiness into the back:



I like how splashes of color peek out when you pass them from diffferent angles:



Look who's happy for new pillows!!


2 comments:

Malka Dubrawsky said...

So I just saw your pillows on flickr and commented that they are a wonderful combo of Japanese with contemporary(Denyse Schmidt). Then I started wondering whether that was your intent and am happy to see that the pillows are most definitely Japanese inspired. Great job on putting these two aesthetics together.

Anonymous said...

I love the fabrics you've used. You have a great eye for combining different patterns!