koi

The ASIJ Quilt…Carpe Triem

So I’ve been making lots of teasing comments about koi and kasuri lately, with a very good reason. This year, our annual quilt for The American School in Japan Gala fundraiser is a deep indigo pool made of kasuri, with three charming carp frolicking in the rain. Koi are the beloved ornamental varieties of common carp that are kept as pets in ponds and the word koi is itself a homophone for another Japanese word that means “affection” or “love”; koi are therefore symbols of love and friendship in Japan. The name of the quilt, Carpe “Triem”, reminds us to seize the day (or seize the quilt!) and is a play on our trio of friends. Inspiration came in many forms, from modern woodblock prints, like this one, ‘Pillow Talk” by Daniel Kelly…

…to ‘Whisper whisper 7’ amongst others from Kaneko Kunio.

Koinobori, meaning ‘carp streamer’ in Japanese, are carp-shaped wind socks traditionally flown to celebrate Boy’s Day (now called Children’s Day), which falls on May 5th every year. The carp has become the symbol of Boys’ Day because the Japanese consider it the most spirited of fish—so full of energy and power that it can fight its way up swift-running streams and cascades. Because of its strength and determination to overcome all obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals.

We also had high goals for ourselves as quilters, wanting to create a very individual and special quilt while at the same time longing to do another boro (rag) background quilt, featuring vintage indigo textiles, a bit reminiscent of the beloved Dragon quilt of 2007. I was lucky enough to come across a few great pieces of kasuri, the Japanese form of ikat, in which the thread is dyed prior to weaving. Kendra had some other gorgeous pieces in her stash and we were easily able to assemble the patchwork background from a myriad of pieces and patterns.

Using some photos of real koi, Julie drew our koi on graph paper free hand – she is so amazing!

I figured once we were using such gorgeous fabric for the background, there was no chance modern fabric could hold up its head against it. So back out to the shrine sales I went, in search of antique and vintage shibori (Japanese tie-dye), brocades and other silks. While the fabric would be gorgeous I knew the quilters would be hating me a bit as silks are so hard to work with.

The patterns in the shibori was perfect in giving almost a literal effect of scales. And the bold colors – oranges, yellows and golds – against the deep indigo was spectacular. Just trying it out by draping a fish shape had us all excited.

As we started late this year and the Gala was a week earlier than normal and we planned for the koi to exuberantly overlap the borders, we had to work a bit out-of-order this year and put the borders on early.

Julie’s husband enlisted the local copy shop to blow up the hand sketched koi, one graph paper square to one inch and we were able to use them as patterns.

The day we spent cutting the fabrics to create the fish was my favorite quilt day in all nine years I have been working on the ASIJ quilts.

With each fabric we tried to bring out its innate nature…

…and have the details suggest the very details found on the fish.

We used iron-on stabilizer to give the pieces some weight and make them opaque.

We basted the quilt top to a simply patterned dark blue background and placed the fish into their new home in the pond.

As we loved the echo quilting we did last year, we decided to do it again – this time as raindrops on the pond. Here you can see the circles marked out at one inch intervals. If you look closely you can also see the detailed quilting in the fish fins.

I just love this detail shot with the shibori circles reading as fish scales and the rain drops quilted into the kasuri.

The crowning touch was finding a perfect silky orange binding – I don’t know how we got so lucky! Not a perfect frontal photo, but the slight angle brings out the details of the echo quilted raindrops.

This quilt, with its evocative design and meticulous craftsmanship, masterfully captures and conveys our long-lasting affection for Japan.

More in-progress details can be found over at My Quilt Diary and A Quilter By Night.

Feb 26, 2013 By tokyojinja in Artist Spotlight, Design Motif, Expat Life, Textiles 24 Comments Tags: ASIJ gala quilt, carp, Julie Fukuda, kasuri, koi, koinobori, quilting, quilts, shibori

Carpe Diem…de Gournay Fishes Wallpaper

Koi, the ornamental carp so long associated with Japan are heavily on my mind these days and you’ll see why in an upcoming post quite soon. In honor of their variety and beauty, I can’t help but highlight one of the most extraordinary wallpapers out there, Fishes by de Gournay. Everywhere you turn, de Gournay’s Chinoiserie wallpaper is being used to stunning effect (some great blog round-ups here and here as well as here on the de Gournay site), but lately the liquid movement of Fishes has really captured my attention.

Early projects like this powder room by Katie Ridder highlight how dramatic and daring it is in small spaces. In fact most of the examples I came across were powder rooms, as always the perfect place to cut loose with design.

A key to each of these bathroom photo shots is the reflection of the paper in the mirror.

This lighter colorway – Blue Pearl design colours on tarnished silver gilded paper – seems to be the most popular – although as it is custom painted it can be ordered in any color under the sun.

Stefan at Architect Design recently featured this powder room which used panels and a large mirror to envelop the viewer as if they were under water themselves.

Sarah Story‘s Gramercy Park study has also been featured everywhere and its small dimensions make it a perfect place for this wallpaper, much like the powder rooms above. There are a few versions of this space out on the web including this one with antique desk and klismos chair…

…and this very different version with white Parsons desk and modern Eames chair. I find it fascinating how light and photography affect our perception of this paper. It’s mutable, like any given day at the ocean.

Larger scale examples include this staircase hallway with its crystal ship chandelier.

Further down the stairs the fish seem to be racing upstream.

Because the design could be overwhelming this is a paper that is wonderful for using along a single wall as in this kitchen by Jeffrey Alan Marks & Ross Cassidy. I find its placement here quite witty.

And in this dining room, the silver leafing goes all around, but the fish are constrained to one wall.

I’m not sure if this is actually de Gournay paper in this design by Wendy Schwartz – it is only listed as being hand painted on red silk – which leads me to believe it may be. I did want to include it as the dramatic orangey-red colorway is quite a change from all the silvery greys. And doesn’t that fixture remind you of a mod version of a netted glass fishing float?

de Gournay have recently expanded their Japanese and Korean collection, adding ‘Abstract Pines’, ‘Kiso Mountain’, ‘Cranes’ and ‘Matsumisha Waves’. I’m looking forward to seeing them used.

Another option, if you can’t take the price tag nor the commitment to wallpaper, would be to buy an antique or vintage Japanese byobu (screen), perhaps something like this one. I’ve featured it before here, and the photo has never ever done it justice (the harsh fluorescents at the Heiwajima antique fair are very unfriendly), but it was truly beautiful.

More on some other special carp to come soon…

Image credits: 1. Katie Ridder via Everything LEB, 2-3, 7-8, 10 & 12 via de Gournay, 4. via Architect Design, 5. via Sara Story Design, 6. Sara Story in Elle Decor, November 2011, 9. Jeffrey Alan Marks via Elle Decor, 11. Wendy Schwartz via Rue Magazine, February 2012, 13. me.

Feb 18, 2013 By tokyojinja in Design Motif, Interior Design 12 Comments Tags: chinoiserie wallpaper, de Gournay, Fishes wallpaper, Jeffrey Alan Marks, Katie Ridder, koi, ornamental carp, powder rooms, Sara Story, wallpaper