Teresa Duryea Wong

Author

Teresa

Kawaii Appliqué Quilts from Japan

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By Naomi Ichikawa & Teresa Duryea Wong

Pre-Order Now! Available May 28, 2025

Hardcover. 208 pages. Hundreds of beautiful quilt photos.

Meet master quilters Yoko Sekita, Aki Sakai, Reiko Kato, Akiko Yoshimizu, Megumi Mizuno, and Hiroko Akita. Essays on Japanese kawaii culture and history from well-known quilting & culture experts Naomi Ichikawa & Teresa Duryea Wong. Plus, an inside look at Japan’s beloved Hina Matsuri & Girl’s Day, & how these celebrations have informed a generation of quilters. Five kawaii projects to make.

Bits of Me

My Quilts

“Bits of Me” is partly autobiographical. The English letters, Japanese and Korean words, animals, humans, buildings, and other images, reflect a part of my story. Other symbols are purely graphical. The design was inspired by Composición Universal, a 1937 painting by Uruguay-Spanish artist Joaquín Torres-Garcia. Linen and woven fabric is from Japan, and the taupe palette is Japanese inspired. The applique is raw edge, fused, and machine stitched. All of the quilting is free motion, no computers. Cotton batting and thread.

Manhattan

My Quilts

Deep midnight blues, shades of gray and black, with pops of bright blue, come together in this improvisationally pieced quilt that reflects the palette of the streets of my favorite city, Manhattan. The word Manhattan is stitched 142 times with 1,363 yards of black silk thread. The quilted letters are almost unreadable on the front, yet they pop on the solid white backing. There are 3,383 pieced patches.

2024 Lectures

Dates

2024 Lectures

Jan 3 – Textile Talk. Free & Open to Public. Topic: Interview with Native American Art Quilter Susan Hudson. Sponsored by the Quilt Alliance.

Jan 8 – Friendship Star Quilters, Gaithersburg, MD. Topic: “Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022.”

Jan 16 – Washington Stars Quilt Guild. Olympia, Washington. Topic: The Calling of Quilt Collectors

Feb 5 – Wayside Quilters, Sudbury, Massachusetts. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022.

Feb 12 – Northwest Quilters Inc. Portland, Oregon. Topic: Ten Modern Masterpieces – a joint lecture with David Owen Hastings

Feb 16 – American Quilt Study Group. KEYNOTE Lecture Virtual Study Session. Topic: 20thCentury African American Superstars: Anna Williams, Rosie Lee Tompkins, & Yvonne Wells

Feb 22 – Quiltcon, Raleigh, NC. Topic: 20 Modern Quilts from Around the World – a joint lecture with David Owen Hastings

Feb. 23 – Quiltcon, Raleigh, NC. Topic: 20th Century African American Superstars: Anna Williams, Rosie Lee Tompkins, & Yvonne Wells

Mar 14 – Heartstrings Quilt Guild. Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Topic: The Calling of Quilt Collectors.

Mar 16 – Wiltwyck Quilters Guild, Tillerson, NY. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022

Mar 18 – Hill Country Quilt Guild – in person. Kerrville, TX. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022.

Mar 21 – Golden Triangle Quilt Guild – in person. Beaumont, Texas. Topic: The Calling of Quilt Collectors lecture & trunk show.

Apr 1 – Tall Pines Quilt Guild. Huntsville, TX – in person. Topic: The Calling of Quilt Collectors

Apr 4 – Tulsa Modern Quilt Guild. Tulsa, OK – in person. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022

Apr 20 – Houston Modern Quilt Guild, Houston, TX – in person. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022

May 9 – Coastal Guild of Santa Barbara & Goleta. Santa Barbara, California. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022.

June 20 – Brenham Friendship Quilt Guild. Brenham, TX – in person. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022.

June 4 – Debut of a new lecture series for the James Renwick Craft Association – the member organization of the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery. Eight-part lecture series. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art. Series will run 8 consecutive Tuesdays. Online. Open to public.

June 11 – Part Two. James Renwick Craft Association. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art.

June 18– Part Three. James Renwick Craft Association. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art.

June 25 – Part Four. James Renwick Craft Association. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art.

July 2 – Part Five. James Renwick Craft Association. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art.

July 9 – Part Six. James Renwick Craft Association. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art.

July 9 – Part Seven. James Renwick Craft Association. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art.

July 30 – Part Eight. James Renwick Craft Association. Two Centuries of Quilts: From Necessity to Fine Art.

July 23 – Kitsap Quilters. Poulsbo, WA – in person. Topic: The Calling of Quilt Collectors.

July 24 – Sunbonnet Sue Quilt Guild. Sequim, WA – in person. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022.

Aug. 6 – Foothills Piecemaker’s Quilt Guild – in person. Greenville, South Carolina. Topic: The Calling of Quilt Collectors – lecture & trunk show.

Aug 20 – Keeping the Piece Quilt Guild. Marie, Michigan. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022.

Sep 18 – Textile Talk. Free & Open to the Public. I will interview Curator Dr. Elaine Yau, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive. Topic: The Eli Leon Collection of African American Quilts. Sponsored by the Quilt Alliance.

Oct. 1 – Chisholm Trail Quilt Guild. Georgetown, TX – in person. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022

Nov. 12 – Quilt Guild by the Sea. Boca Raton, FL – Zoom. Topic: Sewing & Survival: Native American Quilts from 1880 – 2022

Nov 12 – Quilter’s Guild of Arlington. Arlington, TX – in person. Topic: Mexico’s Glorious Gift: Red Dye & A Walk Through a Century of Red Quilts

Nov 13 – Hamilton Quilters Guild. Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Topic: Ten Modern Masterpieces. Joint lecture with David Owen Hastings.

Nov 18 – Suncoast Quilting Circle & Tampa Bay Surface Design Group. St. Petersburg & Tampa Bay, FL. Topic: Twenty Modern Quilts from Around the World. Joint lecture with David Owen Hastings.

Coming Soon: Kawaii Appliqué Quilts from Japan. New Lecture by Naomi Ichikawa & Teresa Duryea Wong

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Available May 2025. There is a culture of cuteness in Japan that is so pervasive it has its own name, Kawaii. These days, Kawaii means almost anything cool, beautiful, or nice, including a new genre of quilts that Naomi Ichikawa & Teresa Duryea Wong have dubbed Kawaii quilts. In this joint lecture, you’ll hear how an obscure set of laws in the 1600s set an entire country on a course to adore tiny things, plus how centuries of Hina Matsuri celebrations have influenced quilting. We’ll introduce Yoko Sekita, Aki Sakai, Reiko Kato, Akiko Yoshimizu, Megumi Mizuno, and Hiroko Akita and show incredible close-up images of their stunning quilts which are covered with tens of thousands of tiny patches of appliqué. Naomi will share her expertise through a series of high-quality, pre-recorded videos, and Teresa will be live to tell the rest of the story. Kawaii Appliqué Quilts from Japan is available now for pre-order.

Grace’s Star Wins a Ribbon

My Quilts

Grace’s Star. Made 2023. Inspired by a 1968 Star quilt made by Grace Zimega (Teton/Western Sioux) who lived on the Standing Rock Reservation. I entered it into the Cherokee National Holiday Quilt Show (which is open to everyone) and it won 1st place in Machine Pieced/Machine Quilted! So honored.

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