I have had these beautiful Japanese fabrics in my stash for some time now, actually years! I know I got them from my friend Mary before covid, so it had to be 2019. From time to time I get them out, intending to do something with them, but am stymied by the size of the images. They do not lend themselves well to being cut up.

I really love the crane motifs, and the coi fish, but could not come up with a design on my own. These needed a more modern approach.

I got out this book Japanese Quilt Inspirations by Susan Briscoe, hoping for inspiration. There are a lot of great ideas here. But the ones like the cover quilt would mean cutting too much of the print away.

In the book though, there was a panel that the author surrounded with a scrappy border. As I looked closer at the panel, it seemed this would be a way to showcase the entire scene on the fabrics I had.

I piddled around with all the fabrics I had until I found four that worked together well. I sewed them together to create a base for the circles.

The larger circle needed contrast, and this bird on a black background seemed to be good. The colors in the flowers are echoed in the base prints.

I cut a large circle out. I had used a hand embroidery hoop to chalk a circle around the bird.

Then, I decided that this wall quilt would be a mixed technique quilt as I would need to applique the circle onto the base. So, why not make it a bunch of techniques? I went online and found a crane embroidery motif. I stitched it out in the colors of the base prints.

Now I had all the elements needed to move ahead.

Auditioning the elements, it seemed that the piece was too wide, the proportions looked off. Also, I wanted to add more piecing in a scrappy border. So, I got out my ruler to see what it would look like if I cut off 2-1/2-inch strips from both sides. This would make the base center area more vertical, and more pleasing in proportion.

That looked fine to me, so I made the cuts, and sewed the scrappy strips together. I had more Japanese fabric scraps left over from previous projects, and a couple of strips cut from other fabrics to make up the total needed.

Then I cross cut the strip sets into sets of 2-1/2-inch squares. I kept going, adding in from bits and pieces of other projects until I had four strip sets of 22-24 squares each.

My original plan was to use the same black background fabric in the border that I cut out for the center circle. But auditioning it with the scrappy border quickly showed it was too busy. The border gets lost.

So, I pulled out a tone on tone black that reads as a solid color, and this looked a lot better. It gives the eye a place to rest.

The black border was sewed on, and it made a nice contrasting frame.

Then, the scrappy border was added.

It was loaded onto the longarm with a wool batting, and a tone on tone white backing.

I chose a pantograph that looks like water called Ripples designed by Hermione Agee for Lorien Quilting. I used a gold Glide thread.

The water motif was chosen as an echo of the gold in the prints, like this one below.

When I was done with the quilting, I noticed an unquilted section of the black border.

The pantograph just went around this spot and it really sticks out like it was a mistake.

I put one more line in, connecting the point of the ripple above and curving it into the line on the right. I don’t think I’ll take out the stitching line above the black. I don’t really think I need to. But I’ll decide that later.

All done with the base quilting, next was to bind the base in black.

I was able to get the binding on the quilt while I Zoomed with my buddies across the pond. We had such fun! Hosted by ChookyBlue, there were participants from Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Canada and the USA on while I was there. Next is finishing the handwork.

I plan to quilt the circle sections individually, then applique them onto the base. I am thinking of adding some seed beading to it as well, but we’ll see how much time I have when I get the piece all put together.

So, that is where it stands. I’ll be working on this more next week, and will show the progress soon.

What are you working on now?

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Exciting News on a new virtual class! Another fabulous class is coming on September 7, the Quilt Finishing Fest from Creative Spark! Get a $20 discount on the class with my code, just click on Quilt Finishing Fest to see the class and have the code automatically applied. Quilt Finishing Fest is a live, virtual event of quilting and quilt finishing techniques taught by expert instructors.

The opening keynote speaker, Christa Watson, will set the stage for the event by sharing the importance of prepping the quilt, basting, and making a quilting plan. Quilt Finishing Fest will have ten 40-minute breakout rooms. You’ll pick three you want to see LIVE and choose your own learning adventure with just a click. Recordings of the other rooms will be available to watch through your Creative Spark account. 

Visit C&T Publishing, and see the Best Sellers and check out the Gifts and Games section.

See the new August Specials at Fat Quarter Shop. Shop the Discount Fabric and Notions. This month get 20% off the Basic of the Month Confetti Cottons from Riley Blake, 30% Off the Notions of the Month from The Gypsy Quilter , Patterns of the Month by A Quilting Life Designs, and see the Precuts of the Week. Save on Book of the Month A Quilty Fun from Lori Holt, Cross Stitch Fabric Flair, and don’t forget the daily Flash Sale!

Visit Sulky Threads for the latest sale on thread and stabilizers.