Using My Japanese Fabrics

Hi! Astrid here.  Jane invited me over to see her amazing Hachi quilt.  I love it!  So, I have borrowed her book, and I am in the process of making my own.  I dragged out all my Japanese fabrics and picked the pink sushi-panda fabric, a large floral, and the Mt Fuji with polar bears fabric.  C gave me some fabric to use as the unexpected visitor.  I am still messing about with the layout, on my design wall.  It needs tweaking, before I sew my blocks to one another.

The final version will have 30 blocks in it.  At this point, I am not liking how the pink is put up here.  Too much pink?  Not spread around enough?  I will play with it some more, then move on to making the backing and the quilt sandwich.  I love sandwiches!

Hachi Quilting Is a Japanese Form of Design and Creativity

Astrid and I have been reading about Hachi quilts.  We are each making one.  Of course, Astrid has this big collection of Japanese and Korean fabrics.  I shopped in her stash, and I picked out a Japanese fabric with parasols in maroon, green, and gold.  Astrid also contributed my background fabric, which is not a solid, but is white with light green paisley, which acts like a solid in my composition.

I really enjoyed making this quilt.  I quilted it myself, using the stitch-in-the-ditch method.  The book we used for guidance is called East-Meets-West Quilts, by Patricia Belyea.  I have decided my next Jane's January Tutorial is going to be about Hachi quilts.  Of course, you do not have to use Japanese fabrics.  You can use any large print fabric and pair it with a solid.  Our friend, C, has bold garish fabrics that look amazing in Hachi quilts.  I think pairing them up with solids, is what really makes these quilts pop.