Ikko Tanaka inspired quilt

A couple weeks ago I watched a few seconds of an NPR video about the living space of a Brooklyn composer. I only needed a few seconds to immediately lose interest in the musician and instead fixate on the poster he had behind his right shoulder. It was a bold, geometric print of a geisha that immediately read as a quilt to my eyes. A screen shot and quick reverse image search on Google lead me down a rabbit hole of Japanese graphic design, specifically to the work of Ikko Tanaka.

I immediately sketched out the design, did some very simple math (this is based on 12.5" square blocks) and pulled a stack of fabric from my shelves. A few cuts and about an hour sewing and I had made my cotton replica. 

I used lightweight, double-sided fusible interfacing for the circular elements, and appliqued them to the top with a zig-zag stitch before quilting. I also fixed that annoying unmatched seam over on the right - the only white fabric I had was a remnant of something with an annoying amount of  one dimensional stretch which buggered up some of the seaming.

I had a lot of fun quilting this, playing with the addition of concentric arches in complementary colors to offset the stark geometry. It took a fair amount of time, and an annoyingly large amount of ripping (damn you, bobbin tension!) but the top is now fully quilted and waiting to be bound. I decided to go with a petrol blue in a shade somewhere between the turquoise and navy, and of course had none. So despite my best efforts to use only what I had at hand, I ordered some solid blue Kona (and some white and red, because, um... free shipping?) which finally arrived last night. I was hoping to take this quilt with me for show and tell at the next NYC Metro Mod Quilt Guild meeting but I'm not sure I'm going to get time to make and attach the binding before Saturday. But never fear! There's a whole other quilt I started and finished over the past two weeks I can take instead!