Greetings from Nova Scotia.
How to settle down to work after an exciting 6 week trip to Japan and Bali!? Well, as I write, Nova Scotia’s softly falling snow certainly brings me back to reality! No more warm Indian ocean to wallow in!

I had a truly wonderful time teaching and lecturing at Yokohama Quilt Week in November. Kaffe Fassett and I were invited to help in the ribbon cutting opening ceremony.

Our exhibition of 36 Canadian art quilts was beautifully presented in gallery style on hard walls, and very well received. In fact, our Canadian quilt show was chosen by Sendai T.V. as the premier of their brand new digital T.V. station! It was very clear that the Japanese have great affection for our quilts and our country. I feel our show made a strong statement about Canada and contributes to the keen interest in our country and our quilts. See my photos from Japan and Bali, in the album on the right. There are also photos from the Canadain exhibit.

The Japanese quilts were so wonderful. There is a strong ethos of fine hand sewing. The most intricate, tiny patches are hand pieced to create a special sensibility that is the hallmark of Japanese quilts. Machine sewing is still very much in the minority. It was interesting to see that most of workshops being offered at the Quilt Week were for fabric bags and purses. Japanese quilters love to make something practical and they adore making very cute bags. This one in particular caught my eye in the exhibition hall. Charming!

I didn’t buy tons of fabric…. I’m very selective about how much more I can cram into my studio shelves. But of course, how can one resist the nectar of life for a quilter? Here is a photo of me with the charming Junko in her traditional Kyoto home where she sells exquisite traditional Japanese fabric fragments and antique kimono. Junko made a pot of green tea and we had a delightful visit. I did splurge a bit here!

I am working on a fabric shopping directory to be available as a resource for those visiting Japan. If you have good fabric shopping tips in Japan to share, please email me: val@valeriehearder.com.

At home, in mid Janaury, I rceived a gift from Bali. Suddenly, there were 2 delicate white and green butterflies in my kitchen. They were the same type as we’d seen in Bali, which was teeming with butterflies. I think they came in the mask my son Roan brought home. A startling ritual mask, it’s dragon face meant to scare away demons in the temple. It has long hair made out of coconut fibre. I think they must have travelled back to Canada as chrysalis in the hair. One flitted in the house, settling by my computer for 3 days. I hoped it would be satisfied with the the bunches of flaming, orangy-yellow roses I have on my dining room table. (I can’t bear to be without flowers after being in Bali). The other butterfly flew out into the softly falling snow. I caught my breath, watching it slowly fly up as the snow swirled around it, wanting to scoop it back into my warm house.

Do drop me a line, send me an interesting link or tip to share, let me know what you think of this new e-newsletter. A very speical thanks to Barb Robson’s daughter, Kate Inglis for helping me set this up. Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to others – I’d love to sign up more readers!

From my studio to yours, I wish you a peaceful winter and lots of productive quilting!
Valerie