I went to the Tokyo International Quilt Festival last month at the Tokyo Dome.  It was, again, wonderful.  The quilts were abosultely fabulous and I wish I had some pictures.  Silly me, I forgot my camera.  I also missed the Americans.  I went on the 17th of January and they did their thing starting the 19th.  I had a wonderful time, anyway.  The quilts were quite inspiring as were the little “pocket parks” of small quilted items.  They were  in  forest or garden settings and all the ground cover, flowers and trees were done in fabric.  The “grass”  had such a wonderful texture – it was all small pieces of torn fabric (possibly glued) to large wooden boards that created a spectacular effect.  I did some shopping at a few of  the hundreds of booths set up around the exhibition.  The picture above is my take on a pillow kit.  I have yet to make the kit I bought.  I really enjoyed studying the pattern, pulling out the fabric and hunting through my boxes of beads, sequins and buttons in an effort to make something interesting.  I haven`t stuffed the pillow as I am taking this one and a few others I have in the works to the States next month as gifts for family and friends.  I will get the stuffing – and a great many other things – when I am there shopping in some of my favorite places – JoAnns, Michaels, A.C. Moore.

I am really excited about going to visit the folks “back home.”  My sisters live in different cities in Pennsylvania and both have promised me that their JoAnn`s have moved to bigger digs and have also promised I will be impressed.  Living in Japan with such a dearth of interesting novelty fabrics, I know that is true.  A lot of the fabric here is geared toward children`s things.  Of course, I love the kimono fabric, both new and old, but the newer fabrics can cost as much as few months rent on a one room apartment in Tokyo.  And, with new kimono fabric, you must buy the whole bolt.  Also, living in the countryside  means that there are fewer places to shop for fabric and notions.  I usually have to go to the next big city, Takasaki, and their selections are not that big.  I was really impressed with the booths at the quilt festival and found out that they come from all over Japan – and other countries as well – to display and sell their goods.  I met a few Americans – New York Staters – who said they have had booths since the quilt festival started.  Well, this was my second year to attend and I am looking forward to attending every year.  It well worth the trip.