The Handmade Category

The handmade category was a sweep by Japanese quilters!  It is no wonder though because they do such exquisite work.  These quilts are completely handmade and they each tell a story.  I've included several pictures of each because they are so amazing. You could look at them for hours and still find something new to look at!

This is the first place winner "Bless My Sweet Home" by Tomoko Endo.  Just enjoy all of the details you can see.  These photos do not do this quilt justice but they will give you an idea.

The second place winner was Aiko Yokoyama for her quilt "A Place to Long For".  She says, "I wanted to depict a calm, peaceful rural scene in my quilt.  I found a picture book by Mitsumasa Anno, which showed a place that I wished for my town to look like.  I made this quilt hoping to live in such a place someday."

The third place winner was "Four Seasons for Kirara" by Ayako Kawakami.

She says, "I have many experiences with my daughter's growing, so I wanted to make a quilt with a lot of good memories.  There are nine small quilts in it, and I put many things like small houses, umbrellas, and trees that I made separately."

My picture of the whole quilt turned out blurry so you can look it up on www.quilts.org to see the entire quilt.  Each little scene is just precious.  She must have been inspired by Reiko Kato's work because I see a lot of similarities to Reiko's work.

I downloaded a book by Reiko Kato called "My Dream Quilt" a couple of years ago and made my own little seasonal wall hanging.  I was happy with my appliquéd scenes but after seeing these quilts, I wish I would have come up with a more clever way to put it all together!
I love to do handwork myself, so I was absolutely in awe of these beautiful quilts that these Japanese ladies made.  That's why there are so many pictures for this one category!
More tomorrow!