The Japanese fabrics art quilt is done! At the end of the last post about it, I had the three elements quilted and the base finished. The next step was to center the black circle on the seam lines. I used a tape measure and a long ruler placed on the seam line to find the center top to bottom.
Then I did the same on the horizontal seam.
The black piece is pinned in place. I set the white circle on top just to make sure the black was oriented the way I wanted it. The crane needed to be flying at an angle up towards the top.
Then the hand sewing of needle turn applique began. This was so much harder than I thought it was going to be! First, I had to fold the fabric around my left hand in order to hold the applique piece. Second, the trapunto made the edges really thick in some spots, and I had to reach under and remove some of the stuffing here and there. In the photo below, my hand is under the fabric on the lower left, holding the piece for sewing.
I couldn’t do this for a long period of time, so it took a while to get it fully stitched down.
Next was to add the smaller crane embroidery. The same issue with holding the piece for stitching was there for this part, too. Then, the overlapping section needed a lot of fiddling to keep both pieces flat. The small purple beads added to the embroidery can be seen in this picture.
More handwork to get the label done.
I fixed the binding mistakes, added a hanging sleeve, and it is done. I like the double framing in black with the patchwork border.
Here’s the lower right area. A black background patch here and there in the patchwork connects the center medallion to the border.
Overlapping circles in the center provide the focal point.
The purple crane appears to be flying toward the ones in the base print. The purple color was matched to the flowers in this fabric and the background in the lower right fabric.
Flying cranes in gold on the background upper right fabric echo the embroidered one.
All done and ready to enter into the fair competition, and our next guild show.
It was great to finally find a way to use some of these gorgeous prints. Now, on to finding a new project to use the rest of them!
From My Carolina Home 
Very successful use of these beautiful fabrics! Good luck in the competitions….
Super job and I really like your border treatment. I see another ribbon in your future!
Lovely job Carole!
Spectacular composition!
Beautifullly done! Good luck at the fair!
Well done Carole – That turned out to be a stunning quilt! It should do very well in competition.
Fabulous. You are so talented and creative. Enjoy the fair and hope you win lots of ribbons
This turned out gorgeous and your work is beautiful
Really lovely. Good luck at the fair!
That is beautiful, Carole! I love your highlighting of the cranes and the purple and black fabrics. Hope it does well for you at the fair!
Gorgeous!
Carole, this quilt is stunning and you should do very well at the fair!
Wonderful, Carole! Best wishes at the fair!!!
This is gorgeous, Carole! I think it’s definitely a winner!
georgeous, like the two dark borders/binding. A winner for sure, with so much detail.
It is a stunning project. Your unique design shows that you are really an artist. I love that you used your embroidery techniques along with your quilting techniques. The beads are such a great addition of sparkle. Your label is a great way to continue the design from the front to the back. I know you will win a ribbon for sure at the show.
What a beauty!!
Beautiful!!!
The double black frame is lovely. Sounds like you took your time on the handwork and it really paid off. The circles look beautifully positioned and flat!
Beautiful! Excellent focal point which elevates this composition. Hope you win a ribbon! Do the judges give comments on your entries in the fair?
Great job. I also have a lot of Orientals
Lovely quilt!
Your piece is stunning!! I love also oriental fabrics but have never made anything from them. They are resting preciously in my fabric storage drawer. You inspire me! Thanks for sharing this! Gorgeous and a winner I’m sure!
You are so incredibly creative! Your art quilt of Japanese fabrics is beautiful. It’s sure to be a ribbon winner. I love seeing how many ribbons you collect for your sewing and cooking entries at the Fair each year.
It is gorgeous, Carole. Good luck with your fair entry…it is definitely a winner in my book.
Absolutely beautiful handiwork. I absolutely love the black circle, but the white appliqued circle seems to be out of place. Am I missing the significance of it??
The fabrics offer so much to the piece.
That turned out absolutely gorgeous. I also have some Japanese fabric I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with. Good luck with the entry. I can’t imagine it wouldn’t get some kind of a prize.
This is really gorgeous. I see a Blue Ribbon in your future here!
It turned out lovely!
A great finish. Lovely work with the applique, too. Definitely a success.
Beautiful quilt Carole. You have a very creative mind and I enjoy seeing every quilt you make. I have been a quilter for a long time. I became interested in longarm quilting after seeing your Dream Big (Hoffman Fabrics) Flower quilt on display. Now I love my longarm and am now making gift and charity quilts also. Thanks for all your inspiration.
Carole,
I really like your use of the large Asian prints in this project. Adding the black circle with the crane print in the center completes it for me. Beautiful!