Cha Bu and American quilts

These patchworks are all creations by my (German born) mother. This art form is also called American quilting. Patching and sewing different fabrics together used to be done out of necessity. It was a way to use leftovers with style. Nowadays, this art is quite international with Japan a main center for creativity for fabrics and patterns. Some of the nicest pieces on these creations come from Japan.

What my European mother does, is to mix American quilting and Japanese influences for her tea drinking son in Taiwan!

The American quilt pattern on the left is called Double T. Below, the triangular pattern is called Flying Geese.

This Christmas quilt helps me feel less homesick at the end of the year.
The white stitches below look like waves. This is a traditional Japanese stitching pattern.

Quilting may be a way of saving on material, but it makes a big use of an even more precious resource: time. It often takes more than one day to make one quilt.

These Cha Bu make my tea drinking more personal. A lot of emotions come from these pieces of art and love. I owe many thanks to my mother for taking so much time and inspiration to make them for me. Her smile is shining through them and brings me warmth and comfort, even before the first sip of tea.


Faith is another source of inspiration. Here is one of the quilts she made to decorate her church. As always, I find that The colors are nicely matched.






More traditional for a quilt is a bed cover. Below, here, is one she made for her latest granddaughter.
And she gave this one to my wife.

Related: While Googling about American quilts for this post, I saw this news: John McCain visiting quilters of Gee’s Bend two days ago. For more on the subject, you can get stitching patterns for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on the Black Threads blog.