One day in Oslo

On the 15th of September we had some free time before our flight to Bergen. So we toured around the center of Oslo in the morning.

First we visited the city hall. It's open to the public and free of charge!

This is the hall where Nobel Peace Prize ceremony is held.

Who could expect a quilt displayed there?

When Japanese people are asked what comes to mind when hearing the word of Norway, we will probably say "the Scream" of Edvard Munch. A glance is enough to engraved it in your memory. 

My mother and I missed an opportunity to view it because the museum which we wanted to visit was closed on Mondays!

But luckily there was a painting of his in the city hall. 

A department called GlasMagasinet.

A funny show window.

Aker Brygge is a trendy area where you can enjoy shopping and a meal.

According to a Japanese guide who lived in Norway and accompanied us, an apartment or condo costs 8,000,000 USD. What?! It must be a joke!  

How much do you think this simple hot dog is? It's 7 USD, although it tasted good under the gorgeous weather!

Emi

Show and Tell

Masako was asked to give a speech in Norway with the topic being what motivated her to embark on her quilt journey.

To help illustrate her speech, we showed photos and quilts. We were very surprised to see the size of the audience!

Right before going on the stage with Lynette.

They are the teachers invited to the show.

Now it is our turn.

We spoke about our project called "Patch for Japan". 
The purpose was to provide handmade quilts, consisting of blocks with messages, to victims of the March 2011 tsunami.
Crocheted blankets were made in Europe as well and sent to a quilt shop in Ishinomaki. 
Quilting brings people together and unites them no matter where they live.

Emi

Glass Factory

As a treat, the organizers took us to a glass factory on a day before the show began.

It was located one or two hour drive away from our hotel.

There was a factory, shops, cafe and restaurants so it looked like a complete village.

We had gorgeous weather every day!

At the factory you are able to view craftsmen at work blowing glass tableware.

Masako could not resist buying the mushroom family!

Emi

"Norsk Quilte festival"

My mother and I returned home on the 21st of September from a two week trip to Scandinavian countries. 
She was invited to the First International Quilt Show which was organized by Kathrine, Asne and Siw, three Norwegian quilt shop owners.

We gave workshops for four days and taught different projects each of which focused on a particular technique, such as punch needle, trapunto and paper piecing.

Each class had almost thirty people. This is the maximum in a class taught by Masako in order for her to be able to give each student individual attention.

The students were great. They were very enthusiastic, friendly, hospitable and polite. They were always eager to learn as much as possible. 

You might notice that there are some Asians in the picture of the fourth day of classes.
Yes, they are our students from JAPAN! 
We arranged a tour to go to Bergen to visit the fjords and shop in Stockholm.
They joined us on the final day and sneaked into our classroom. 
When they entered, the Norwegian students welcomed them. Many of them were carrying handmade bags which were made in our classes in Japan.
They opened their bags and many other small handmade pouches came out, one after another! 

We had an interpreter each day. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph the second and third day interpreters. All of them were so helpful and knowledgeable about quilting. Thanks so much!



From left to right are Kathrine, Asne and Siw.
They came into the room, unannounced, to surprise the students.

The show had an exhibit area as well as a commercial area for the vendors.

There were more than twenty Norwegian quilt shops represented.

Two Masako's quilts were exhibited.
Emi

AC14 Summer Collection ~Creations CRIB QUILT students made~

Tokyo is absolutely boiling hot with this heat and humidity, which is really annoying.
But it seems that our students don't lose motivation to make things at all!

Here are their creations using the latest fabric collection "American Country 14".

Nice dresses.

She used 30872-71 fabric. It's a setup. I believe she made the crochet cardigan too. 

The dress matches up with the bag. 


They are beautiful examples to show how to use the new panel fabric 30870-70.

Some stitches along the designs.

I'm sure they will help you to get back into the mood for quilting!


Emi

Workshops in Singapore

We went to Singapore for 5 days from the 2nd to 6th of July to give workshops.
It was our third time being invited by Sim Mui Heng which is a handicrafts shop located in the heart of the city.

As in Singapore we had never taught cartonnage which differs from making a quilt, we asked Wuxi(the wife of the organizing couple) and her staff to learn how to do it in order to help us at the workshop.

We taught different projects on both 2 days, trapunto and cartonnage.

First Masako shared stories about her latest quilt hanging behind her and also her new fabric collection.

Stuffing a cotton cord "Cotone" on the wrong side of the fabric between the 2 layers, the cotton satin and cotton organza, it doesn't require an advanced skill. Trapunto is originally considered a difficult technique because you have to cut and pad on the wrong side of your finished quilt. You don't really know how much you padding you put in each design which might cause the fabric to wrinkle. But it's easy to see how many cords you stuff into your design instead.

A group photo of the first workshop!

The second workshop began at 9 am.

We wanted to finish making an entire box including a small box which goes inside, we tried to go as far as we could in the morning.

We finished more than 90 steps, all of the students were able to take the finished one back home. They were really good students! We hope to see them at the Tokyo Dome Show next January!

It was such a short time to stay in Singapore so we did not have much free time, but we had chicken rice which is our favorite and Zen and Wuxi took us to a nice beach. 

Thanks so much for the wonderful time!

Emi