Available April 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 applique. 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 Applique Quilts from Japan is available now for pre-order.
Preserving a Legacy: 4 Women Speak Out on Harriet Powers
Quiltfolk sponsored video: Teresa Duryea Wong hosts a discussion with Dr. Carolyn Mazloomi, Kyra Hicks, Jennifer Swope, and Aisha Amos Carter – Harriet’s great-great-granddaughter. Go to Quiltfolk YouTube to watch this video and witness the intense passion these women have for Harriet’s incredible contributions to the world of quilting.
Quilter on Fire Podcast!
Episode 119 – Brandy Maslowski – host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast – invited me on her show to talk about quilts, books, magazines, travel, history… and it was great fun. The show is live today – June 6, 2023. Check it out. Go to quilteronfire.com/podcast
On The Road
Quilt research inside the archives of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. And of course all good quilt study requires a great photo. My research focused on a collection of mid-20th century quilts made in the Great Plains region. You can read more about these quilts and their makers in my new book “Sewing & Survival.”
Chasing Quilts
Every quilt has a story. My specialty is finding those stories and bringing them to life. Whether it’s for a lecture, or a book, I will travel just about anywhere to chase a great quilt and discover its story.