Kendo Quilt - my oldest UFO finally done
03-31-2020, 02:25 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 353
Kendo Quilt - my oldest UFO finally done
From the university times, I practiced kendo, which is the Japanese art of fencing. I gave it up finally a few years ago, but it was an important thing in my life once and I cherish the memories. In kendo I made a friend, who still practices, and while I was always a mediocre player, she went on to be a champion and an instructor. After I had given up for good, I decided to make a quilt out of kendo t-shirts and tenugui. Tenugui are pieces of cloth wrapped on the head under the mask. Traditionally, they carry meaningful messages to keep the fighting spirit up or are memorials of tournaments etc. I wanted to give the quilt to my friend, since I would not use it now that I do not need sword-themed messages around. My friend said she would not use it herself, but her son would be happy to have it. He is 7 now and an avid practitioner, of course. What else would you expect with a champion mommy and daddy also practicing - we frequented same clubs and events once, and also daddy's big brother.
The project proved more difficult than I had thought - I don't think I will ever make anything from t-shirt fabric again. I started in 2017 and kept procrastinating, since it was not nice to work on, the fabric kept rolling ad waving. But finally it is done. Some of the fabric is not kendo-related, it is simply meant as fillers in the design (in case anyone wonders what have leaves to do with Japanese fencing). I used a lot of purple, since in Japan it is considered a traditional male color. Red is the colour of youth and navy blue is the color of kendo gear and attire.
The project proved more difficult than I had thought - I don't think I will ever make anything from t-shirt fabric again. I started in 2017 and kept procrastinating, since it was not nice to work on, the fabric kept rolling ad waving. But finally it is done. Some of the fabric is not kendo-related, it is simply meant as fillers in the design (in case anyone wonders what have leaves to do with Japanese fencing). I used a lot of purple, since in Japan it is considered a traditional male color. Red is the colour of youth and navy blue is the color of kendo gear and attire.
Last edited by Vasilisa; 03-31-2020 at 02:28 PM. Reason: spelling and grammar
03-31-2020, 04:06 PM
#7
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Texas
Posts: 5,546
Your friends son will love this quilt. Looks like you put a lot of thought & time into it. I learned something new today. I've never heard of Kendo before. Thanks for sharing your quilt & knowledge about Kendo.
