Wool Bridge Quilt

Working with Yukata Cotton and Ikat Wool

There are times when one finds a fabric so precious; that glows in destiny and provides courage to express a beautiful message. The vintage Ikat wool in burgundy and golden yellow architectural graphic that I purchased from Patricia and Victoria at Okan Arts was one for me. The yardage of vintage Yukata Cotton and Ikat wool are only 16 inches in width, making them even more precious.

The decision to use the wool came during an online “Creativity and Complex Curves” class with Patricia Belyea of Okan Arts. A wonderful class that for me was very productive with three quilts created as a result: The Wool Bridge, the Pink Tulip, and the Clover Honey.

The architectural graphic of the Ikat Wool reminded me of a Japanese garden bridge. The Japanese bridge is an important part of the Japanese garden representing a transitional point from one section of the garden to another: from a dry gravel bed to a koi pond to a forest glen.

The three central panels of the Wool Bridge Quilt represent those paths. The top bridge path goes through the forest glen with the Ikat wool paired with a modern cotton with tree limb graphics completed with a vintage indigo check to represent the small structures that may be found in a Japanese garden, gates, fences, arbors, viewing pavilions.

The bridge path in the bottom central panel goes through the gravel dry bed. Fabric used include a taupe speckled cotton completed with the tree limb modern cotton representing the forest at the sides of the dry bed. Ovals were used to represent the continuity of the Japanese garden, always changing, season to season.

The main central panel represents the historic arched bridge over water with mountains in the background. Bare tree limbs are on each side in white on a gray background, subdued representation of views found in the distance in a Japanese garden.

The side 5-inch squares each represent a path through each square with the left-over scraps of the Ikat wool of in a golden yellow. Each square are unique and a lot of fun to make. The binding was the lovely indigo and bacl seen above.

The Ikat wool can fray easily so best to do reinforce stitching along the edges and finish the seams with a zigzag stitch. Since this was special fabric, I sed every little bit that was usable.

This was an original design and may not be reproduced without approval by the author.