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By Patricia Belyea
TOYKO JP Get ready to go crazy when you see the special exhibits at Tokyo Quilt Festival. Every year the highest level of workmanship and design are paired with exciting installations. So let’s get started.
quilt impressionism
An Encounter Between Quilting & Art
Four sensei and their students prepared quilts and textile projects to express the work of four famous Impressionist artists. My favorite was Akane Sakamoto’s exhibit titled Chasing Vincent van Gogh. Akane stated “I want the viewers to feel like they are in the painting.”
koseki suzuko
The Stylish World
Koseki Suzuko was honored with a retrospective this year. Look for vintage fashion, flour sacks, and non-stop delight in her work.
kumiko nakayama-geraerts
The Art of Boutis
Sprinkled throughout the show floor were Special Artists booths. I was completely amazed by the work of Kumiko Nakayama-Geraerts who has mastered the French needlework art of boutis—stitching together two fine fabrics with stuffing added to create a raised effect.
storybook quilts
Creating the Characters of NHK Educational TV
This year, nostalgic characters from NHK Educational TV were the theme of the Storybook Quilts Exhibit.
three international quilters
Three Popular Contemporary Quilters from Around The World
Di Ford from Australia, Cécile Franconie from France, and Tone Finnanger from Norway were chosen to exhibit their works in a major display. Tone stole the scene with her cute, cute, cute dolls and fun vignettes from her Tilda’s World collections.
There are so many more things to see—this is just the tip of needle here! To see the quilts in the major exhibits at the 2019 Tokyo Quilt Festival +click here
To see close-up details of the quilts in the major exhibits at the 2019 Tokyo Quilt Festival +click here
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ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan.
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