Framed blocks pattern for Japanese fabrics - can anyone help?
 

Hello everyone. I wonder if anyone can help with my query.

My dearest friend has given me some Japanese style print fabrics (various colours) that she bought in the USA some years ago that have been sitting in her loft and she would like a quilt making out of them. I'm new to quilting (only just finished my first quilt) and thought about doing a 5 inch square framed block with a black frame and then a small deep gold sashing to make each one stand out a bit more. Some fabrics will need to be fussy cut because of the print on the fabric (eg a kimono) which is fine. The initial central print will be cut at 5.5 inches with a 1.5 inch frame cut and then there's a small 1 inch sashing. It will look great I'm sure.

My query is as I was just going to do lots of blocks as above and put them together (no formal pattern to follow as such), I would like to do something a little different with these blocks but I'm not sure what. As my experience is limited, can anyone recommend a pattern and/or a different way of separating the blocks to give it a slightly different look? My friend has done so many wonderful things for me in the past and it would be great if I could make her something that would make her happy as she's going through a lot right now and is really unwell.

Thank you for taking the time to read this thread. I hope someone can help/advise.

Anna Marie x

Here are some ideas google search. Using the square picture. I made a quilt using square as the black was not A flat border but a flange. The square as we're placed on point it is the quilt I loved and will repeat one day. (Gave away no picture') the fabric squares all Japanese fabrics black flanges and a very warm red Japanese border and black binding

That looks great! I love it! I love how you've done this. Thank you. I'm going to take another look at my fabrics to see how this work out.

Many thanks for your reply.
Anna Marie x

Here are a few links to help you decide.

I like this one made by QB member IrishNY.
http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...t-t131474.html

This link is to a website. I think that many of their patterns would be great with Japanese fabrics. You may getsome ideas here. Be sure to check each section of the website.

http://www.mountainpeekcreations.com/patterns.aspx

Robert Kaufman has lots of free patterns for their Asian collections on this page: http://www.robertkaufman.com/quiltin...=0&sort=Newest


Hyakkaryouran, Imperial ones, Kasuri Gesiki are some I noticed. Good luck and please post when you get it done.

Thank you for your help everyone and for these suggestions. They are fabulous. I love the Imperial ones on the Kaufman site too. Decisions decisions.....

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Apologies for the picture quality. The fabrics above are the main ones for the quilt. If I cut the fabric squares 5.5inches so I've got a kimono in the centre of each block it will mean that I've got the edge of the kimonos from the print surrounding it. Will this look ok do you think?
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The picture above shows the black (for framing) and the gold for the sashing. A thought was to use the gold fabric to frame on some of the blocks (depending on the colour of the fabric) and the black to sash but not too sure about this. All advice greatly appreciated. I just didn't want to go ahead and cut anything at this point.
Anna-Marie x

An attic window pattern may be just what you are looking for.

Thank you. I've never heard of that one before. Where would be the best place for me to find it?

Attic Window would be my first choice. Google it and you'll find several free tutorials. Stunning fabrics you have there!

Thank you! My friend loves them and at first I wasn't too sure how to get the best pattern to do them justice. As I'm new to quilting I was struggling to know what pattern would be the best. I'll Google it and see what I can find out.

Here is one example of an attic window from the board -

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...d-t213385.html

And another -

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t207659.html

Gorgeous fabrics!
Yes, I agree, Attic Window may be just the pattern to use.
You don't have to have the center of your 'window' square......could be rectangle. You can add the window 'sills'/ 'ledges' to 4 sides but if parts of the surrounding kimonas are contained in the cut area, it may work better to add sills/ledges to just 2 adjacent sides.

http://www.crystalpalaceyarns.com/eq...ticwindow.html

http://quilting.about.com/od/quiltbl...ic_windows.htm

http://www.hgtv.com/crafting/attic-w...ays/index.html

This one has all sides sashed.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_pz8eid7Sg_...ssarts.com.jpg

These fabrics are gorgeous! I think something along the lines of what DottyMo posted would showcase them beautifully. Let the fabrics do all the talking in this quilt, don't mess with a more complex pattern. I don't think attic windows would suit them.

Long strips of fabric the length of the quilt at different sizes or all the same size would be pretty with the black sashing in between the strips. I think I saw some Japanese quilts made in this fashion with fancy hand stitching all throughout.

Hi feline fanatic. Thank you for the advice. I love both DottyMo and the attic window ideas but I've never done anything like attic window so I'm a bit nervous about it. If I go with DottyMo's suggestion, do you think it would look ok with the main kimono in the cut being surrounded by parts of other kimonos (hope that makes sense), because if I cut it in a square or rectangle, I'll still get parts of the other kimonos in the cut.

Thank you to everyone who replied to the thread and for your suggestions and help. I'm just trying to figure out if I go for the design DottyMo suggested if it would look ok given the print on the kimono fabric.

My recommendation would be the Oriental Garden quilt! It's stunning with all sorts of fabrics, but especially Asian prints, and it's actually incredibly easy to put together!

http://www.spotlight.com.au/inspirat...-garden-quilt/

Attic window is much more interesting than ordinary sashing.

Thank you Jennalyn, that's a gorgeous pattern too. It's the kimono design that's confusing the issue for me at the moment as to how to include it in the quilt pattern. I need to get my head around it!

My recent framed Japanese fabric quilt.
 

This is a small quilt I have just done. It may be of use to you, if so PM me and I can give you some info on it if needed.

Oh! I love the Oriental Garden quilt! Beautiful!

I don't think partial kimono's would detract. Here is how you can test. Cut a "frame" out of paper or cardboard. Make the frame as wide as you intend to make your sashing strips then place the frame over the elements you want to fussy cut. If it looks bad then you know this idea won't work.

Another option you can consider is appliquing circles on to background squares. Like I did in this quilt pictured here: Circles are very easy to do and sometimes enable you to isolate an element in the fabric better. If you want instructions on how I did this you can PM me.
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Thanks feline fanatic - a great idea! I've tried it and I don't think it looks bad at all. I've done the same with the red and black fabrics as there's a repeating pattern on those too and that looks fine. I will PM you to ask for how to appliqué the circles as that's something I've never done either and it would be great to know how to do this just incase things don't go to plan. Many thanks for the help.

I love oriental prints, especially the kimono ones. beautiful. i 'm sure what ever you do with them , it will turn out great!

"Asian Scrappy Road" is a nice "block" style: http://www.e-patternscentral.com/det...id=4&flag_id=2

Use google images to see how it's been rendered in different fabrics.

Here is a pic that I have saved to my "Ideas" folder. It would work well with the fabrics that you have chosen.[ATTACH=CONFIG]396209[/ATTACH]

Gorgeous fabric ....

All the fabrics are stunning. I would consider fussy cutting the large circles, too. It would help move the eye around the quilt. I LOVE the black and gold sashing fabrics, which would be perfect for attic windows OR sashing. Please take pictures while you are working on this quilt and show us your progress.

I would like to suggest you consider using the kimono fabric as a panel for the back of the quilt, since it is throwing things off so much for the rest of your fabrics. You could cut it into a large panel, add a few interesting borders using some of the fabrics from the others... perhaps piano keys, between two more tone on tones, and there you will have a reversible quilt and have eliminated your problem of using the kimonos with the other fabrics on the front.

Dolly- Wow, that one is great!

wow thanks for all the links

Thank you for your replies everyone! I've got some much to think of now, but most definitely a reversible quilt. The kimonos are still playing heavily on my mind though! Lol!

Delicious fabrics. Love the kimonos!!!!

I love those kimono fabrics.. I think they are beautiful by themselves, different fabric for each one. I like the idea of a panel; You could do a large panel off center flanked by ofther blocks of the other fabrics in an asyymetrical arrangement.
If it were me I wouldn't cut the kimono fabric too much.. It's so pretty by itself.