Japan, January 2017

I've been home from my Japan tour since the end of January, but have just recently plowed through all my photos.  It was a wonderful two weeks with Quilters Express to Japan and our tour leader Susan Ball Faeder. She's been doing this for over 25 years and  through her myriad private contacts in the Japanese textile world we were privileged to experience things few regular tourists ever can.
So many thanks to my friend, fellow artist and traveling companion Roberta Walley for encouraging me to come along!

We started with Tokyo and the Tokyo Quilt Show - the largest in the world in the Tokyo Dome baseball stadium. What a crowded,  jostling experience. It seemed that every woman in Japan was there! Fabulous quilts, wonderful, inventive exhibits and amazing fabrics and hand made items and notions for sale. So many shopping opportunities! I did my part.

We toured amazing Shinto Shrines and Buddhist temples in Tokyo and Kyoto

Enjoyed textile museums and private collections 

Saw modern Japanese textiles and fashion....

Ate glorious food so beautifully presented! 

Figured out a whole new world of electronic toilets

In  the village of Arimatsu we watched local artists practice the art of Shibori dyeing

And in Kyoto we spent a morning learning the art of stencil dyeing

So much more to say and too many photos  - maybe in some future posts.

Let's just say I hope to go back! 

The trip has already yielded inspiration... 

A purchased indigo dyed cotton banner of the Moon Rabbit mounted with more 

Japanese indigo textiles 

A quilt from my photo of the garden at the Heian Shinto Shrine, Kyoto.