3 in 30 - 2002.05.28 Tuesday
Over the past few months, Beverly has been searching for old fabrics...and some new fabrics to use for future quilt-making projects. She has been envisioning a quilt made with patterns to comprise the twelve animals of the Chinese/Japanese zodiac. The Japanese used to refer to the twelve year cycle of the progression to determine the year in which they were born.
Beverly sees these being done in the blues and whites in the material typically used to make yukatta (literally after-bath). These are light cotton kimono worn in the summer after dinner and after bath. On hot summer nights around resort areas, you can often see people out strolling in the evening searching out a breeze.
In the metropolitan center of Tokyo, the only time we see people in this somewhat traditional wear is during festivals when people like to put on an air of old-time gaiety. (Like our neighborhood O-Matsuri.)
Here are just a few of the yukatta that Beverly has purchased in the recent months. Not all of the yukatta she has purchased will be cut up and made into quilts. Some are too nice to not be worn for a while. Some of the scraps can be used later, but not immediately. I think that I've worn out three yukatta since we have been here.
Some of the cotton fabric is not the best of quality so after a few years of wearing, and washing, and hanging in the sun to dry, some of them have torn and needed to be retired. Those may be ready for quilts.
The patterns are of a wide variety with some more blue and others more white. As you can see by the examples here, some are small patterns while others are quite large. Some of the patterns do not repeat for about two meters on a bolt of fabric half a meter wide.
Most of the yukatta are quite inexpensive and are simply printed colors, while one of these is what I learned was called ikat. That is where the individual threads are systematically dyed and then carefully woven together to create the patterns.
We have gone to a couple of quilt shows here in Japan and I too am inspired to think of making some quilts. Perhaps there will be some scraps of fabric left over for me to make one.