Ayako Miyawaki: The Art of Japanese Applique Book
This is the best of the 2 copies of her book published by The National Museum of Women in the Arts, from January 1992, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
In Ayako Miyawaki's book, she calls it rag art, most likely due to the Japanese to English translation of boro, which is quite popular now.
My mom has been collecting boro since I've been a kid, but she never called it boro, she just kept her favorite old worn out things, like her best dress from high school, my Grandmother's favorite house dress and the futon she and my dad received as a wedding gift, even our childhood Snoopy sheets!
In the 70s, everyone in our family, even uncles and aunts, had a shirt or vest made from Japanese rice cloth bags, she had saved through the years. Botan rice bags were her favorites.
By the 80s or 90s, she was calling it, boro and had a huge collection of Japanese indigo, ikat and her most favorite, sake boro bags, which she brought back from her trips to Japan.
In the late 90s, I started my own rag quilt, called "The Inner City Alphabet Quilt." I used much of my teacher clothes from my student teaching days and my first years of "real" teaching.
I was an inner city teacher for over 20 years and much of my influence for the quilt came from all my students, our experiences and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Sadly, every year at least one student at our school died from a drive by and most of my students didn't think they'd live past their 13th birthday.
When I showed my quilt pieces to my mom, it reminded her so much of Ayako Miyawaki's, The Art of Japanese Applique Book that she dug it up and gave it to me! She said she found the book years ago, in the free bin at one of her quilting functions. Can you imagine? She gave me the book in the late 90s.
My copy is in distress from so much use, but this one is in really really good condition, so I listed it.
Here are some photos that are not in the listing: as you can see the book hasn't even been really cracked open yet.
She seemed to love all nature and appliqued a lot of veggies!
Ayako Miyawaki: The Art of Japanese Applique Book published by The National Museum of Women in the Arts, from her January 1992 exhibit in Wahsington, DC, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
I see mostly edibles in her work, so these landscapes are a nice change!
Ayako Miyawaki: The Art of Japanese Applique Book published by The National Museum of Women in the Arts, from her January 1992 exhibit in Wahsington, DC, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
Looks like she might have been using sake boro bags too!
Ayako Miyawaki: The Art of Japanese Applique Book published by The National Museum of Women in the Arts, from her January 1992 exhibit in Wahsington, DC, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
I love her applique flowers and have her applique flower book too, but it's a very small book and this book has photos twice the size!
Ayako Miyawaki: The Art of Japanese
Applique Book published by The National Museum of Women in the Arts,
from her January 1992 exhibit in Wahsington, DC, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
My favorite of her applique flowers are her poppies, it's a popular photo and I've tried to show less common ones of hers.
Ayako Miyawaki: The Art of Japanese
Applique Book published by The National Museum of Women in the Arts,
from her January 1992 exhibit in Wahsington, DC, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
I hope you had as nice a stroll as I have today and got a good dose of inspiration!
Ayako Miyawaki: The Art of Japanese
Applique Book published by The National Museum of Women in the Arts,
from her January 1992 exhibit in Wahsington, DC, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
Saying Goodbye: Luckily I have my own well loved worn copy of this book, so I won't be sad at all when this book finds a new life and home! As a matter of fact, I have many double copies of applique quilt books to list because people keep giving me the same copies for some reason as gifts!
I think I also have several copies of Janet Bolton applique books too, if only I could find them in my hoard! I'm pretty sure they are all in a box together with all my favorite quilting books for inspiration!
Here is the beginning of my "Inner City Alphabet Quilt," A is for apple, b is for boy (that's a self portrait one of my students made of himself), c is for cat and D is for drive by. I have made pieces all the to M is for money. The apple most reminds me of Ayako Miyawaki's work.
What I Learned:
1. I had the apple applique photo all ready to share by itself for this posting and it has now vanished into thin air! I have spent over 30 minutes looking for it, but can not find it. I'm a bit cranky over it! Between the heat wave over here and the lack of sleep for a month due to m80s still going off for Independence Day, I'm wiped out!
2. Inspiration or Desperation? I feel a little bit of both at the moment and I'm getting pushed over more to the Desperation side. Although, I am inspired by Ayako's appliques every time I look at them, however right now, I am feeling some what desperate over the thought of how much cloth, most of them my own rags, quilts and kimonos, lol I have collected over they years and yet, I still can't find the box of rags that I started this quilt with!
3. Quilting takes up a lot of space and storing all the fabrics I "MIGHT" need is not the best thing for a recovering hoarder like me! I have no idea what to do about it either, it's been on the back burner until I can find new home and lives for all the rest of my hoard!
4. Will I ever finish this quilt? and what will it take besides more patience than I have at the moment?
How many projects do you have started and intend to finish? Don't get me started or my little hoarder mind might explode! What to do with all the projects I've started or intend to start and all the stuff I've bought for them? How do I end this crazy cycle?
Here are some of my smaller works, I think there are 3 left, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab
I've been new listing and relisting
items on each shop daily and weekly, so check them out! I heard several M80s last night, but I did sleep better than usual! Yipee!
Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily and/or weekly: HoarderRehab with 183 items, The Destiny of Things- 180 items, VintageToGoEasy - 184 items and JunkDrawerAndMore - 184 items.
Maybe you'll find something to adopt and share your story too! Thanks for looking!
The apple applique photo miraculously showed up after I gave up looking for it! This piece is made from my college day rags! A couple of sleeves from my college make up the background and the stem, a pillow from my my college apartment is the apple and a pencil skirt from my student teaching days made the leaf.
Related Stories: I've been attempting smaller projects until I can get to and find my rag hoard to finish my Inner City Alphabet Quilt, but lately I've been too tired to do much of anything. I have been mending some, but I don't think anyone really wants to see that!
2. Not a huge rip in my favorite jeans! Before pix Mending as a Creative Outlet, Story 1
3. Other Creative Outlet Stories on this blog, here
"A stitch a day keeps the hoard away."---Hoarder Rehab and The Destiny of Things
No comments:
Post a Comment