Look what I've got today!!!! I'm so proud of myself! Of course, I have no idea what it is. It will be too small for a bed quilt and too large for a wall hanging. The good catch-all term lap quilt I guess! But look at the colors and look and the words! Do you see those undeceipherable squiggles here and there? That is Japanese! Yeah me!!! I got four Japanese words "written" in the simplest form of the language into my quilt! I just had to put it all together today!
What do they say? The first one (in green) says ganko. "Stubborn". Why would I want that word in Leiya's quilt? It is sort of a family joke that she is very stubborn in her opinions but it actually can mean that a person stands up for what he believes and has good connotations.
The next word (in lavender) says ganbariya. It means "stickler" and has the nuance that the person will stick with something and not give up.
The next light green word says sunao. This means "obedient" and no, not like an obedient dog. It sort of has the nuance of a caring person who will be cooperative.
The last lavender word says doryokuka and this means a "hard-worker" or someone who puts out a lot of effort.
So there you have a Japanese lesson!
Now, what to do about the borders. For sure a small dividing border in black but after that? Any ideas? Go bright? I have some of that bright fabric that the "happy" is in and I could make a narrow border of that. Anything else I'm going to have to go buy at a fabric store. I can't get batiks in Japan, and probably not any true dyed fabric but some of those fern fossils fabrics are available in limited colors. What to do? What to do?
How about quilting? Should I quickly get it done by machine or spend some time hand quilting around the words (stitch in the ditch)? Then I could do something fancy around the border too? What to do? What to do?
Do you get the idea that my brain has stalled!
13 comments:
I am just in AWE! I will have to put wonky letters on my list of things to try..but NOT NOW! My UFO list is WAY too long! I vote for a bright border...with maybe a small black insert to set of the colors.
Yes, I'd go with the bright "happy" fabric - I think it ties it together nicely with the narrow black border in between. As far as quilting goes - I think Tonya's freehand fans with a heavier thread would be just perfect.
That is going to be a really great quilt - I love it.
タニヤさま
本当に楽しいキルトですね。
笑ってしまいました。
Do you have enough scraps to do a piano key border? That would look good after your thin black!
I love it, you've done a great job.
This is stunning. I've been WANTING to try those Tonya letters and just haven't had the opportunity. You've done a great job. I like the narrow black frame with piano keys if you have enough scraps.....
Oh goody - another Tonya's letters person. I agree with Quiltingfitzy and Nancy - black and piano keys.
I'm in the process of doing another family quilt. BTW did you know there is a Flickr Group for Tonya fans? The link to it is on my blog.
Make that even another vote for the black and piano keys - it looks wonderful :o)
Fabulous! Ditto the black with piano key border from scraps... it's a masterpiece. I want to learn how to do these letters!! Thanks for the lesson in Japanese, too!
Loved the Japanese lesson! What a great quilt. I would do a narrow black border as you said, and I would probably do a border that brings out the pink or the blue color in the quilt.
This is so beautiful. And my daughter Sushi was able to read the Japanese words, even though she didn't know the meanings.
This looks so great. Why would it be too big for a wallhanging? I love large quilts on the wall - very commanding as pieces of art. Ask your daughter what she thinks. I'd say put a hanging sleeve on it no matter what. I'm wondering what it would look like with just a black border.
Great hanging! What about a small black border and then blocks that are the same width as the blocks with the writing, then followed by a black binding? Fan quilting or shashiko (spelling?) quilting throughout.
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