Kawaii Appliqué Quilts from Japan: How One Country’s Love of All Things Tiny Powers Today's Most Intricate Quilts, Naomi Ichikawa and Teresa Duryea Wong

Kawaii Appliqué Quilts from Japan delves into a remarkable quilting phenomenon in which the “kawaii” aesthetic—small-cute, detailed, playful—meets the exacting craft of appliqué. Quilts composed of tens of thousands of minute fabric pieces well up the eye, the kind where every scrap is meticulously placed to form scenes, animals, houses, and motifs so detailed they feel like tiny worlds. The book not only shows these masterpieces, but also traces the roots of kawaii culture in Japan, presenting how sensibilities of scale, delicacy and ornament evolved into contemporary quilting practice.

What makes it especially useful for makers is the “5 Projects from Top Designers” it includes: step-by-step patterns by master quilters such as Yoko Sekita, Aki Sakai, Reiko Kato, Akiko Yoshimizu, Megumi Mizuno, and Hiroko Akita. Rich with hundreds of colour photos and many black-and-white diagrams, these projects let readers experiment with kawaii techniques themselves, while the profiles of each artist reveal studio practices, methodology, and tone. It is a fusion of aesthetic inspiration, technical insight, and cultural storytelling.

About the Author
Naomi Ichikawa is publisher of Quilt Diary Japan magazine, and for twenty years was editor-in-chief of Patchwork Tsushin, Japan’s first quilt magazine. She has also curated international exhibitions through International Quilt Week Yokohama. Her long experience in the Japanese quilting scene gives her insight into both tradition and innovation.

Teresa Duryea Wong is a quilt historian, lecturer, and writer. She serves on advisory boards such as the International Quilt Museum and the Quilt Alliance, contributing scholarship that bridges craft history and contemporary quilt culture. Her partnership in this volume ensures that the visual spectacle of kawaii quilts is matched by rigorous historical context.

Publication date: 2025
Publisher: Schiffer Craft (Schiffer Publishing Ltd)
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9780764369254