March 2005 -
"In the middle of a deluge which left 18” of water rushing down
Mountain Avenue in Ontario, California, I had a delightful visit with
Hisako Takamatsu. Hisako teaches Japanese at Fullerton College
and Cerritos College. She also serves as the Japanese translator
for Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Hisako is blessed to have THREE BOXES of temari hand crafted by her mother. We spent the entire afternoon going through those treasures. I had been worried that this visit might be an imposition on Hisako, but she was delighted to find someone who appreciated her mother’s craft. Hisako’s mom came to temari after raising 9 children. She purchased a book and began teaching herself to make and stitch temari. I asked Hisako if she had every attempted to stitch a temari herself. She explained that her mom took up the craft after she married and moved to this country. Of the four daughters only one learned her mother’s craft. Hisako loaned me her mother’s precious temari text (hardback copy of Temari for 12 Months, Vol. 1), which I am hungrily studying. It appears from the temari I saw that her mom worked her way through that book and learned every pattern.
The temari ranged from 2” to over 4” in diameter. They were crafted from a variety of materials. Some were quite dense and heavy. Some were very light weight. Stitching threads were also of a wide variety – perle cotton, floss, metallic, silk. We laughed at what must have been her “rag ball.” The C10 temari had stars stitched in the same color all over the mari. But the centers were all different combinations of thread colors.
Also in the box were about a half dozen temari which Hisako’s sister had stitched. These were beautifully crafted. Her color choices were very different from the mother’s color choices. Three different temari worked in the “crane” pattern were nearly identical. I am guessing that these were made by someone else as the skill level was more precise than the other temari.
I don’t know the name for the craft of fabric quilted balls. (webmaster's note - Kimekomi) Hisako had three which were covered with beautiful brocade fabrics. The balls felt as if they were made of paper mache. Hisako and I talked about how they were constructed and couldn’t figure out how the fabric had been pushed into the surface of such hard balls. If the fabric was glued to the support shape, the edges did not show and there was no ridge which might indicate that the edge was folded under. However they did it, the result was beautiful. Then she pulled out the sea shells! Yep! Sea shells covered with fabric to look like the “quilt balls.” The largest was about 3 1/2” across. The smallest about the size of my pinkie fingernail. They were attached to threads, usually in pairs, and some with a tiny jingle bell. She said these would be worn on clothing, attached to a purse or hat as a decoration.
Her mother’s temari book had photos of small temari dangling in pairs from a hat band or attached to clothing with a decorative safety pin. There was also a photo of a medium sized temari suspended from the elaborate obi sash bow over a formal kimono. Hisako had an unusual box which her mother had made. It appeared to be cut from the bottom of a milk carton. The box was about 3” tall and covered with thin cotton fabric. A square lid had been made and covered with fabric. But the corners had been completely smoothed out and new corners folded in the center of each square side! It was absolute wonderful! So simple, yet so dramatic! Hisako’s next project is to prepare her doll display. She has the entire “emperor/court” set of dolls. I don’t remember the proper name for this grouping. She says it takes here several days to arrange the display on its special tiered shelf. Then the kids from the local school come to her home to view it.
After being overwhelmed by all of her treasures Hisako and I had tea and looked over some of my Japanese temari books and translated a couple of patterns. She has offered to help me work through more patterns in the future. What a fascinating afternoon I had meeting this lovely, generous lady and seeing some native crafted temari in person.
I have posted photos of a few of the heritage temari ......"
Hisako is blessed to have THREE BOXES of temari hand crafted by her mother. We spent the entire afternoon going through those treasures. I had been worried that this visit might be an imposition on Hisako, but she was delighted to find someone who appreciated her mother’s craft. Hisako’s mom came to temari after raising 9 children. She purchased a book and began teaching herself to make and stitch temari. I asked Hisako if she had every attempted to stitch a temari herself. She explained that her mom took up the craft after she married and moved to this country. Of the four daughters only one learned her mother’s craft. Hisako loaned me her mother’s precious temari text (hardback copy of Temari for 12 Months, Vol. 1), which I am hungrily studying. It appears from the temari I saw that her mom worked her way through that book and learned every pattern.
The temari ranged from 2” to over 4” in diameter. They were crafted from a variety of materials. Some were quite dense and heavy. Some were very light weight. Stitching threads were also of a wide variety – perle cotton, floss, metallic, silk. We laughed at what must have been her “rag ball.” The C10 temari had stars stitched in the same color all over the mari. But the centers were all different combinations of thread colors.
Also in the box were about a half dozen temari which Hisako’s sister had stitched. These were beautifully crafted. Her color choices were very different from the mother’s color choices. Three different temari worked in the “crane” pattern were nearly identical. I am guessing that these were made by someone else as the skill level was more precise than the other temari.
I don’t know the name for the craft of fabric quilted balls. (webmaster's note - Kimekomi) Hisako had three which were covered with beautiful brocade fabrics. The balls felt as if they were made of paper mache. Hisako and I talked about how they were constructed and couldn’t figure out how the fabric had been pushed into the surface of such hard balls. If the fabric was glued to the support shape, the edges did not show and there was no ridge which might indicate that the edge was folded under. However they did it, the result was beautiful. Then she pulled out the sea shells! Yep! Sea shells covered with fabric to look like the “quilt balls.” The largest was about 3 1/2” across. The smallest about the size of my pinkie fingernail. They were attached to threads, usually in pairs, and some with a tiny jingle bell. She said these would be worn on clothing, attached to a purse or hat as a decoration.
Her mother’s temari book had photos of small temari dangling in pairs from a hat band or attached to clothing with a decorative safety pin. There was also a photo of a medium sized temari suspended from the elaborate obi sash bow over a formal kimono. Hisako had an unusual box which her mother had made. It appeared to be cut from the bottom of a milk carton. The box was about 3” tall and covered with thin cotton fabric. A square lid had been made and covered with fabric. But the corners had been completely smoothed out and new corners folded in the center of each square side! It was absolute wonderful! So simple, yet so dramatic! Hisako’s next project is to prepare her doll display. She has the entire “emperor/court” set of dolls. I don’t remember the proper name for this grouping. She says it takes here several days to arrange the display on its special tiered shelf. Then the kids from the local school come to her home to view it.
After being overwhelmed by all of her treasures Hisako and I had tea and looked over some of my Japanese temari books and translated a couple of patterns. She has offered to help me work through more patterns in the future. What a fascinating afternoon I had meeting this lovely, generous lady and seeing some native crafted temari in person.
I have posted photos of a few of the heritage temari ......"
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