With so many family members needing my help now, I am making quilts in bunches and then saving them ahead for my AAQI Quilt of the Month donations.
So, this I finished off September by creating my Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative donations for both October and November with this little charming pair of geishas. Such fun!
I did research on the meaning of the geisha, and her role in Japanese history and culture when I first began using this fabric a while back. With three members of my extended family being of Japanese heritage, it is very near and dear to my heart to use my scraps of Asian fabrics in many of the quilts I make and donate. So, here they are!
October's QAM has the four little kitty buttons on the right, and is titled Well, Hello Kitty! A play on words of the " Hello Kitty" craze created in Japan by Sanyo that showcases their love of cats and kittens as well as all things playful and cute! I am still playing with a title for the little liberated flying geese quilt on the left..but it will be something playful as well!
Great fun using liberated piecing, hand and machine quilting and some unusual buttons and beads!
12,230 - Well, Hello Kitty!
Michele BilyeuSalem, OR USA
Width: 8.25" Length: 11.25"
Materials/Techniques: Commercial cottons, free pieced stitching, hand quilting with 3D flying geese triangles and buttons.
Artist Statement: I am fascinated by the Japanese culture. Perhaps, it is because my mother loved all things Asian before Alzheimer's took away her memory. Perhaps it is because I have three Japanese members of my extended family that are very dear to me. I have always loved their cultural fascination with cute kitties in popular art and thought these little buttons must share a secret with the geisha as she looks at them with delight....and perhaps a bit of smile.
Contact Michele
Dedication: With love for those who love all things Asian, kittens and AAQI.
This quilt has Fast Finish Triangles.
Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska. Sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in the Liberated Quilting Challenge and make or donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!
