I had a lovely workshop teaching an improvised curved piecing technique with Wicklow Patchwork Group the other week. I use this method when I don’t want to use straight lines for piecing now and then.

In order to remind myself of the technique and think about the best way to teach, I decided to make a little quilt.

Then I had to pick a subject. I went through the photos I took last year when we were in Japan, and this one, I took from the roof of the Shimose Museum, looked like a good fit.

It is located beside the sea, and those colourful containers are a part of the galleries.

I started by creating the blue sky using scraps mainly.

And then added greens for the islands. I wanted the whole quilt to extend on the right side a bit more like in the picture. But I ran out of the blue scraps. Ah well.

And then I hit a wall when adding the containers.

Firstly, I thought about creating a foundation paper piecing pattern. Then it looked too busy.

And then not very literal representation of buildings with colourful fabrics in squares. It didn’t appeal to me.

In the end, I just used this one fabric. Those squares may represent something of man-made structure?

I added a thin yellow border and a white/green border.

And then quilting. The landscape part was quilted to add textures, and I had a good fun on the border.

My memory of a trip to Japan.