Quilt by Patricia Belyea
48" x 56"
When autumn breezes begin the blow, the Japanese search for the changing colors of Fall. The annual maple-hunting guide reports on the best viewing sites, moving from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south over a fifty-five-day period.
I made big blocks of color for this quilt design. Each block features a patterned yukata cotton matched with a contemporary solid. Most are subdued combos with the red popping like a flaming maple on a mountainside. I styled the hand-stitching pattern after the abstracted morning glories on the back. When one row of stitching didn’t show up, I added more—until there were two to three rows of hand-stitching defining the oversized stitch pattern.
Autumn Breeze was featured in Patricia’s book, East-Meets-West Quilts, as a project with instructions. Made with vintage yukata cottons, sourced in Japan by Patricia, plus contemporary solids.
The quilt, signed with Patricia’s applique´signature, comes with a Certificate of Authenticity and a custom linen bag. Shipping and insurance are free to a domestic US address.
Patricia founded Okan Arts—a family business that imports vintage Japanese textiles. Inspired by these found fabrics, Patricia incorporates hand-dyed yukata cottons into her quilt designs. An award-winning quilter, Patricia’s quilts have been exhibited at quilt museums across the country.
Forty years ago, Reiko Sudo co-founded Nuno Corporation with Junichi Arai. Although “nuno” simply means fabric in Japanese, Sudo’s textile creations are anything but simple!
The innovative textiles produced by Nuno, conceived by Sudo and her team, blend traditional Japanese dyeing and weaving mastery with advanced modern techniques.
Sudo has been recognized globally for her contributions to Japanese textile design. Her work includes collaborations with architects, fashion designers, and artists, as well as major museum exhibits.
The project was designed by Ed Marquand, Reiko Sudo, and Alfred Birnbaum.
All 140 textiles included in The Nuno Box were produced by Nuno: Reiko Sudo, Hiroko Suwa, Sayuri Shimoda, Kazuhiro Ueno, Yumi Yasui, Jun Mashiba, Yuki Abe, Gaku Masui, Tomoko Fujino, Fumi Ito, Masaaki Takekura, and Hiroaki Takekura.
The texts, translation, editing, and coordination were handled by Alfred Birnbaum.
The letterpress printing was by Steve Morgan, and the binding was completed by Maria Solorio and Teresa Martinez.
The Nuno Box was compiled and constructed at Paper Hammer Studios in Tieton, Washington.