baby quilt series: no. 3

Hello Bunnies, 2009, 34" x 40"
COLLECTION OF JANET SAULSBURY

Made with 15" wide cotton that I bought in Tokyo at New Year’s, this baby quilt is scissor-cut and machine quilted. The top is made with big pattern blocks while the back has solo bunnies, fancy-cut, in a central sashed composition.

In retrospect, I should have made the back the top, and vice versa. The delight of the little bunnies and the bright pink with the mottled gray on the back is the more exciting side.

okadaya, tokyo

Japanese Narrow Goods

Yesterday I made it to Okadaya, a five-storey fabric store across from the East exit of the Shinjuku train station. I had a 35-minute window of time before I needed to regroup with my family and head back to our apartment in Nakano.

I walked up the stairs to check out the merchandise on each floor. If I had known in advance that all the quilting (pronounced "kilting" in Japan) fabrics were on the first floor, I could have saved ten precious minutes. There were elaborate Liberty of London cottons, Michael Miller and other American designer fabrics, and cutesy Japanese novelty prints galore.

My big find was a collection of narrow cottons (approximately 15 inches wide) that are hand-printed in only one or two colors. They took my fancy because their simple motifs looked genuinely Japanese. I bought 8 meters for 8,000 Yen each (approx. $9 US), plus a couple of remnants at a good discount. The cutter was very generous as he added about 3 inches to each meter, something that is never done at my local Seattle stores.

FYI: Be advised that there are two Okadaya stores within a half block of one another. The one for quilters has bins of fabric outside it.