and even more from Holly

Finally, on Wednesday afternoon, we sped (faster than a speeding bullet) aboard the shinkansen with Mami Noda to the town of Kyoto, where we met up with Reiko Nakazawa and the rest of our (now newly aquired) Japanese hostesses and friends.

Reiko's Quilt entitled "Enso" which when translated incorporates all the elements of nature. Her design, and explanation to me, represents the lifecycle of a sunflower. Here's Reiko's application and fabric interpretation of her original design. Her quilt is hand pieced and appliqued.

Holly's Quilt entitled "When Heaven and Nature Sing". Reiko sent me a black and white line drawing of this quilt for my birthday in 2009. Her only instructions were for me to put my spirit and interpretation into her design, which she said was the lifecycle of a sunflower. My husband's cousin happens to grow sunflowers in a field about a mile or so from our house. My color selection was confined to and inspired by some photos of these fields that my friend had taken just the year prior. In fact, I have included some of the photos on the back and label of the quilt. The blue sky fabric contains "raindrops" and the overall quilting represents the wind that blows through the fields and spreads seeds.
I think it's funny how two people, from totally different cultures and heritage, given the same design, can come up with similar "feelings" when interpreting the design. Hmmmm....
The two artists and the quilts.Proof that we actually did teach a class. Here's Jan, using her best Japanese, teaching a student.

For our friends who just couldn't miss a zen garden, here's one from the grounds of the Nijojo Castle, home of the Nightengale floor (designed to warn the shogun of approaching enemies. Still works today!)