What Is Quilty Box?

We found out about this wonderful service, Quilty Box, when we were given an offer to us through Le cien fabrics.

Quilty Box is a monthly subscription service for quilters.
Full of beautiful fabrics, supplies , Quilty Box is curated by a famous quilt artist each month. The box for June,2017 featured Masako's fabric line "American Country 17".

They ships to the United States and Canada and many other countries.
Please click here for more information!

I'm also curious to know what's inside!

American Country 17

American Country is a fabric collection that Masako Wakayama has been curating for the past 17 years. One collection is added annually. 

The main theme of the new collection "American Country 17" is  Plant Encyclopedia.

31500-70  75x110cm  1300 JPY/panel

The panel looks like a front cover of a book showing you flowers and little creatures living in nature. Masako needs reading glasses and always enjoys a cup of tea when reading books.
You see these motifs at the bottom. 

The original design actually comes from a quilt that she made and was published in a magazine, Quilt Country No.52 by a french publisher "les editions de saxe". The quilt is beautifully and intricately appliqued and embroidered. 

If you purchase the panel fabric from us, we will be happy to give you this free bag pattern.

Here are some other fabrics from the collection.

31505-70  60x110xm 720JPY/panel

Flowers pots are lined up on the bottom of this design. It can be used for a kitchen curtain, an apron or anything you like.

In this design a bee is flying from one hexagonal flower to another.

One panel measures 60 x 110 cm and you will get a free bag pattern when you purchase this fabric from us!

cotton print 1200JPY/m

cotton print  1200JPY/m

cotton print  1200JPY/m

yarn dyed cotton  1600JPY/m 

The Third Crib Quilt Asia Tour 2016 -Jakarta-

How long have we known this lovely couple, Dessy and Yos ....

Dessy has had a great passion for quilting and invited us to give workshops a couple of times. There is always so much to talk about when we see each other. This photo was taken while having lunch at a Syabu Syabu restaurant before setting up at a venue in our hotel.

We gave one day workshops on the 5th and the 6th of November.

At the beginning Masako talked about her quilts and some works from her books.

Her dress is made with a panel from last year's fabric collection.
It is gorgeous and looks beautiful on her.

It is a terrific idea to applique an image of our sunbonnet sue pouch kit on a finished day pack.

Group Photos.

Day 1

Day 2

From left to right, Masako, Dessy, Dessy's brother, his wife, me and Dessy's mother.

We laughed so hard because the apron really suited Dessy's brother!

We got so excited at the workshop in Hong Kong when we chose three lucky persons to receive a gift by Rock Paper Scissors. So we were going to do the same here and were surprised that people in Indonesia barely knew it! So we tried the new thing.
It is called Amidakuji or Ghost Leg. 
Masako drew some lines like ladders and the students eack picked one line on which to write their name.

Then we unfold the left part. There are three flowers on the edge of only three lines, which leads to the lucky three. 

At first they looked puzzled, but soon they seemed to enjoy it!

We thank Dessy and Yos for a wonderful time!

Emi

The Second Crib Quilt Asia Tour 2016 -Hong Kong-

It was a thrill for us to give workshops in Hong Kong for the first time.

The organizer, Tailor and Alteration Needlework Club, was originally established as a tailor shop, by a lady called Susan, in 1993.

Now Susan's son and her sister's daughter are taking over the business and shifting it into a hand craft store.

The one in charge of our workshop was Sherry with an adorable six month old baby, Nana.

We gave one day workshops at their store from the 28th to the 30th of October.

Each workshop was full and we mainly worked on punch needle and applique.

The students were all experienced and enthusiastic to learn new techniques and absorb fresh ideas.

Esther was our interpreter. Actually she is not a quilter, but was very quick to understand what Masako was trying to say!

One student brought a book to be autographed.

We had never seen the Chinese version of the new book "Quilts for Living"!

Group photos. They all look pretty happy!

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

We prepared secret gifts for three persons each day.

The way of choosing the lucky three was Rock Paper Scissors.

Everybody got so excited! 

What people say about Hong Kong cuisine was absolutely correct.

There must be no need to explain how good they are by looking at photos above.

Everything tasted excellent and made us want to go back very soon. So addictive!

One of the famous sites in Hong Kong is the night view along the ocean.

From the left to the right, Esther, Sherry, Nana, Masako, Sherry's mother and me in the house panel apron.

Thank you very much, Sherry, for a wonderful time!

Emi

Susannah Hunter

I have been a huge fan of Susannah Hunter for a long time.
It must have been more than 10 years since I saw one of her bags at a boutique, H.P. France, in Tokyo.

The highlight of my stay in London was to visit her shop!

I didn't expect that Susannah would be in the shop. So special!

I could not find a bag which I already had checked on her website and secretly decided to buy.
I asked if it was sold out and her staff member, Rachel, told me that they could make it especially for me! We were 8 ladies in total and personally ordered six bags!!

Then something miraculous happened. They offered to show us their basement studio.
It was such a wonderful opportunity to see behind the scenes where gorgeous works are produced! 

There were many pieces in progress. 

It was right before lunch and I asked them if there was a nice restaurant in the neighborhood. Susannah recommended an Italian restaurant next door.
The owner of the restaurant and she have become close and she immediately reserved a table for us!

I found it very surprising that some designs of her collections came from a menu of the restaurant. Isn't it lovely?!

They promised that the six bags would be delivered in one month ...
Then exactly one month later, we received them with a note from her! So sweet!

Could I be any happier??

Emi